I remember a few years ago I was working on a WordPress plugin for a client. The code wasn't quite working. I had found a bug and it was difficult to reproduce. I couldn't ship with that bug no matter what. I also had a list of remaining tasks a mile long, including making sure everything worked with a keyboard only.
I was on a tight deadline. I remember I faced a choice: ask for more time from the client or cut some of the items from that list.
I chose the latter. And I didn't ship keyboard support.
The client didn't notice or care. They were happy everything worked and was on time. So happy that they soon asked me for extra functionality.
I could have pushed for keyboard support as a priority, knowing full well it was something I didn't ship the first time around. But for whatever reason (cowardice, shame, ignorance, taking the easy way out), I didn't.
And as the new deadline loomed, the plugin shipped again without proper keyboard support. Not only that, but I managed to add some accessibility issues to the settings form.
The client was still happy. Ignorance is bliss I guess.
Some time after that, I had said enough is enough. I started to push for accessibility from the get-go. And it hasn't been easy. Not only because clients seemed to be happy without it, but also from a personal point of view. Once I took a shortcut, I knew it was there and it became far too easy a detour for me. It was the path of least resistance and I was far too happy to take it.
Fighting to get back on track is never easy. Especially when the shortcut quietly became the path.
But just how I've started taking those shortcuts, now I've started avoiding them. And I have been doing my best to avoid them ever since.
Sometimes it seems a shortcut is a faster way to get to where you're going. But faster isn't always better. You're guaranteed to lose something along the way. Shortcuts in web accessibility are never the right way. It usually means someone gets left behind.
If the shortcut was better, it would just be the way.