How can you sell accessibility?
You lead with the numbers. The 1.3 billion people with disabilities worldwide. The lawsuits that could hit them any day now. Their reputation going down. Their SEO going up. And you add in the "it's just good design" argument just to be sure.
You come prepared.
And you try to sell them on the whole shebang. The whole system around accessibility.
And you're then disappointed when they don't care. They just nod politely and move on. After all that. After you rehearsed it in front of the mirror countless times. After you pulled the stats and built the case. After that wonderful slide deck explaining how the whole system works. They just...move on.
The problem is that when pitching accessibility, we imagine the person listening cares about the whole system.
They don't.
They weren't even aware there was a system. And after your pitch, they're probably even more convinced it's not for them.
They're only thinking of themselves and their urgent needs.
How do they launch on time? How do they stick to the roadmap? How do they stay on budget? How do they keep the team from burning out? How do they justify every decision to management? How do they avoid being the one who said yes to the thing that blew up?
Not to mention, how do they please their boss?
So, how do you sell accessibility?
You can't.
You can't sell something they don't know they need.
But you can sell them something they can show their boss by Friday.
Now that. That they'll buy.
This quick win isn't a trick to get you in the door. It's just good problem-solving.
If someone is pitching you the whole system, they're not solving your problem. They might, but if they're leading with lawsuits and market share, they've lost the plot. But if they walk in and say "this one thing is blocking your launch," listen. They might just understand your world.