When I saw the product was excluding people using screen readers, I said we should do better. We had some discussion, some back and forth, but I sensed a lot of push back. I had a feeling nothing would change. Somehow I knew the fight would be over in the first few minutes after I started it.
I could have approached the situation better. I could have talked to the stakeholders differently. I could have spoken up sooner, perhaps that would have changed some things.
Sometimes though, the system is set up in such a way that you're not meant to come out on top.
Systems are however made by us, whether we intended to or not. We're all the architects and, whether we want to or not, complicit in their consequences. So we keep telling ourselves we've made our bed and it's now to late to change the sheets. We might as well lie in it.
We see something's wrong, but we have this feeling in our guts we can't change it.
At that point, we're no longer complicit. We've become complacent.
Being complicit is different than being complacent.
Being complicit is when you've built the product and it's not accessible. You didn't know better at the time. Or you thought you'd have the opportunity to fix it later. Being complacent is when you see it's really hard for people with disabilities to use it and you can't be bothered to speak up any more. You have a feeling it's a fight you're going to lose anyway.
I have a feeling I've become complacent sometimes. I should do better.