Could I just outsource accessibility and hire an accessibility specialist instead of upskilling my existing team?
I've heard this question quite a lot. You look at your budget and it's limited. You look at your roadmap. It's packed already, you have no time to waste. You look at the audit and accessibility requirements and feel overwhelmed. At that point, you just wonder if you can outsource it altogether and have your team continue hammering out features you've already promised to your customers.
What you're really asking is you can just throw money at the problem.
As tempting as that is, like most things in product development, it's not that simple.
Let me play devil's advocate here.
Accessibility specialists know their shit. They live and breathe WCAG guidelines while your team is juggling 15 other priorities. They'll spot issues in minutes that your developers might miss entirely. They also aren't emotionally invested in your design decisions. They'll tell you straight if something doesn't work.
The upfront costs look appealing too. No training budget, no salary negotiations, just a clear project fee. You get immediate expertise without the learning curve. When deadlines are tight, that can be your lifesaver.
Accessibility specialists also come with a bag of goodies. They have established workflows, proper testing tools and connections to disabled user groups for real feedback.
And let's be honest, your team will listen to an external expert more readily than a colleague suggesting the same changes.
But here's the thing.
Your team knows your product like no outsider ever will. They understand the user journey, the technical constraints and what the business is actually trying to achieve.
What's more important though is that accessibility lives in-house. It becomes part of your culture rather than something you do now and then. Your designers start thinking about contrast ratios from the first mockup. Your developers consider keyboard navigation before they write the first line of code.
You also keep quality control in your own hands. No waiting for external timelines or wondering if their standards match yours. When the project ends, all that knowledge stays with your team.
It's a tough decision, but here's me sweetening the deal.
There is a crucial distinction that most people miss. Outsourcing accessibility means handing over the whole responsibility. Bringing in outside help means getting expert guidance while building your team's capability.
The first option is what I call drive-by accessibility. Someone comes in, they obviously know their stuff, they're really good and they get your product to pass whatever compliance you wanted. If they're really good, they'll go one step further and leave behind some knowledge and guidelines before they leave for their next gig. They leave when the project ends.
That second option is usually where the magic happens. Your team learns from professionals, builds confidence and gradually takes ownership. The external expert becomes a safety net rather than a crutch. They leave when they're not needed any more. Heck, they tend to want to move away to someone who needs them more than you do.
They know accessibility isn't about compliance, even if the lack thereof is why you hired them. They're the people on camp grounds that leave the place better than they found it.
That's who you want on your team.
I'm obviously biased given who I am and what I offer. And I realise I probably haven't answered the question. So here's an answer for you.
It depends.