Here's the harsh reality. You won't be at your job forever.
Neither will the person after you. Or the person after that.
So if accessibility in your team depends entirely on you showing up and fighting for it every single day, you've already lost. It's a fragile system to say the least. When you leave, whether that's in six months or six years, what happens then?
Sustainability is about building systems that outlast you.
That means two things.
First, get accessibility into your team's processes. Document every decision and explain why something matters. Create checklists that become part of development. Design accessible patterns that make accessibility the easy and simple thing.
Second, it means getting other people in the team invested, not just tolerating it because you care. Train someone else in what you do. Get engineering to own their part. Get the designers to own theirs. You'll know you made it when accessibility becomes everyone's responsibility.
Yes, I know how much all that sucks! I mean, in addition to doing all the work, fixing all the issues, testing everything, fighting for budget and time and resources...In addition to all that, you need to also act as a leader who convinces other people accessibility is worth their time and energy?! You have to also build the case for why it matters?!
All this feels unfair because it is.
You shouldn't have to sell accessibility like it's some optional feature. It should just be table stakes.
But you're not actually doing this alone, even if it feels that way. You're laying groundwork for the next person. You're creating the conditions where accessibility isn't a fight anymore.
You don't want to create a system that works perfectly with you. Circumstances change. You want a system that adapts and keeps going when they do.
It's a long game and it's exhausting. It's also the only way accessibility sticks around.
Sustainability is the tenth and last thing on my list of 10 things you should focus on.