I recently had an insightful conversation with an old colleague who recently started a new role at a new organization. The topic? Personas—specifically how accessibility is represented within them.

At his new organization, there was an existing set of personas, one of which was meant to represent all users with disabilities or atypical traits. This "catch-all" persona was tasked with embodying every accessibility requirement. While this might sound practical, my colleague and I quickly agreed that this approach is not only problematic but potentially harmful in practice.

The Problem with a Single "Accessibility Persona"

Consolidating all accessibility needs into a single persona might seem efficient, but it's incredibly misleading. Accessibility needs are not confined to one segment of users—they span your entire user base. Creating a single persona for accessibility implies that other personas—and by extension, their tasks, jobs, and journeys—have no accessibility requirements. This often results in accessibility being treated as a niche consideration rather than a fundamental aspect of design.

For example, workflows tied to an "accessibility persona" might be built with robust accommodations, while other tasks and workflows lack those same considerations. This undermines the inclusivity of your product. Accessibility isn't about catering to a single user type; it's about ensuring that all users, regardless of their abilities, can interact with your product effectively and equitably.

A Better Way: Integrating Accessibility Across Personas

Rather than isolating accessibility within one archetype, a more effective approach is to distribute atypical traits and accessibility needs across all personas. This reflects the reality that users with varying needs exist within every demographic and use case.

When accessibility is embedded across personas, it reinforces the idea that inclusive design benefits everyone. For instance, consider a user with low vision navigating a complex interface, or someone with limited mobility interacting with a physical device. These considerations aren't outliers; they are part of the broader user experience. By addressing accessibility holistically, you ensure that your product supports the widest range of users.

Beyond Personas: Accessibility as a Core Principle

It's also worth questioning whether personas are the right place to address accessibility in the first place. While this approach might have made sense when accessibility was less prominent in product development, today, accessibility should be ingrained in your design system, not confined to individual user flows or archetypes.

Accessibility is about ensuring your product works for everyone—whether or not a specific user need is explicitly documented in your user base. Unless your data shows a prevalence of certain accessibility concerns, all considerations should be treated with equal importance. Accessibility shouldn't be siloed in personas; it should be built into your product as foundational design elements.

Accessibility: A Shift in Mindset

Incorporating accessibility at the system level requires a proactive approach. Product and development teams have access to a wealth of resources, guidelines, and patterns that can help bake accessibility into the core of design. Leveraging these resources ensures accessibility isn't treated as a discovery phase issue but as a default standard during implementation.

The focus should shift to validation—evaluating whether the design system and product meet accessibility standards—rather than reinventing the wheel with each new feature. By adopting this mindset, accessibility becomes an integral part of your product's DNA rather than a checkbox on a persona's profile.

Final Thoughts

Accessibility isn't a feature; it's a necessity. Treating it as a niche concern tied to a single persona does a disservice to your product, your users, and your organization. Instead, consider distributing accessibility traits across all personas or, better yet, embedding accessibility as a core principle in your design system. With the right resources and a commitment to inclusive design, accessibility becomes less about catering to individual users and more about creating a product that works for everyone.