How do I set accessibility goals that my team will actually take seriously?
Short answer is you make them specific, measurable and tied to work your team already cares about.
Look, it's useless to create a bunch of metrics and goals that look fantastic on paper, but are ignored in reality.
On the one hand, I've seen vague goals like "fix accessibility." The only result was they were ignored because nobody knows what success looked like. Instead, set concrete targets like "reduce critical accessibility issues from 47 to under 10 by end of quarter" or "achieve 90% automated test coverage for accessibility checks."
Now, they're specific and measurable.
Then, the best way to make sure they're not ignored is to link them to existing metrics your team tracks. If you measure deployment frequency, add "with zero accessibility regressions" to it. If you track user satisfaction scores, include accessibility feedback in your surveys.
And more importantly, make accessibility part of your Definition of Done. If you're writing user stories, add accessibility checks to it. If a story isn't accessible, it's not done. This removes the choice factor entirely. There's no need for a specific meeting to prioritise accessibility because it's already built into the process.
Finally, make sure people have the tools they need to succeed.
You can set up automated testing. You can give them clear checklists. You can offer just-in-time training when issues arise.
If you're not supporting your team, you're just creating added stress and frustration for everyone. Eventually, they'll ignore anything that has to do with accessibility.
And don't forget to celebrate wins publicly. When someone fixes an accessibility issue or prevents a problem, make noise about it. Teams repeat behaviours that get recognised.
Make accessibility feel like progress, not punishment.