Step by Step Toward Europe: An Organizational Roadmap for Implementing Digital Accessibility

"Where do we even start?" is the first question every organization asks once it realizes it needs to implement digital accessibility across the board. This article lays out a step-by-step roadmap suited to an organization with dozens of ICT products, not just a single website.

Step 1: Mapping and an initial picture

Before you start fixing anything, you need to know what actually exists: every website, app, document, and digital product the organization has. In most mid-to-large organizations, this mapping alone already turns up surprises — old microsites nobody remembers, PDFs that have piled up over the years, and legacy apps still in use. Use automated tools (like our free tool for documents) to get a quick picture across all your digital assets.

Step 2: Prioritizing by risk and exposure

Not every gap carries the same weight. Prioritize along two axes: legal exposure (is the product marketed directly to customers in Europe, and how likely is a complaint) and usage volume (how many users actually encounter the product). A product with high traffic and high legal exposure — like your main e-commerce site — should be at the top of the list, well ahead of an internal document almost nobody opens.

Step 3: Building infrastructure — not just one-off fixes

The most common mistake is focusing only on fixing existing gaps without building the infrastructure that prevents new ones. That includes: document templates that are accessible from the start (see our guide on accessible Word templates), accessible UI components in the organization’s design system, and automated accessibility testing built into the development process itself — not just a one-time check at the end.

Step 4: Ongoing implementation and monitoring

Digital accessibility isn’t a project with a finish line — it’s an ongoing process. Establish clear ownership (who’s responsible for accessibility on each team), measure progress with periodic scans, and build an approval process where every new product or document passes a basic accessibility check before publishing — so the gap doesn’t reopen every time a new update ships.