Golden Rules Accessibility vs Design

1. Accessibility is no longer optional.
There’s been plenty written on the motivations for accessibility. I won’t repeat it here. If you want to be taken seriously on the web, you must address basic accessibility issues first.

2. Visual design is no longer optional.
If you want to be taken seriously on the web, your site can’t look like it was made in 1996.

3. Accessibility cannot be absolutely measured.
Sure there’s Section 508 and WCAG and (insert accessibility standard/law here), but these are not measures of accessibility. They also are not written by the finger of god as the binding law of humanity. While in some rare cases, laws actually do apply to actual web sites and vaguely define what accessibility is, most of the time we will all be better served if we treat discrimination laws and accessibility guidelines primarily as tools in helping us determine how to best implement accessibility.

4. Accessibility is a continuum.
High levels of accessibility are possible without great amounts of effort, but there is ALWAYS more that can be done. Your site can ALWAYS be more accessible. Users and accessibility advocates should applaud designers that are providing accessibility, if not perfectly, rather than lambasting them for not doing everything they can do to implement every accessibility feature and gadget they believe is necessary. So, the key is for designers to determine what should and can be reasonably done and for accessibiliters to determine what should and can be reasonably expected of designers.

5. Accessibility and design have the same business goal.
It is the goal of each of us to make it so that the user experience with our sites is not less enjoyable than their experience on the sites of our competitors. We can work together toward that mutual goal.

http://webaim.org/blog/access_vs_design/