Digital Accessibility Program

As Freddie Mac expanded its digital footprint, accessibility became both a legal requirement and a strategic priority.

Following discussions with the Legal department regarding accessibility compliance and potential litigation risks, I led the strategy and implementation of an Enterprise Digital Accessibility Program designed to standardize accessibility practices across all public-facing websites.

Rather than treating accessibility as a final QA step, we embedded accessibility throughout the entire digital product lifecycle—from design and development through content publishing and ongoing governance.

The result was a sustainable accessibility program that improved compliance, established governance, empowered product teams, and created repeatable processes for maintaining accessible digital experiences.

The Challenge

Accessibility efforts across websites were inconsistent and largely reactive.

Teams addressed issues only after sites were launched, resulting in duplicated work, compliance risks, and inconsistent customer experiences.

The organization needed more than accessibility fixes—it needed an enterprise program.

Key Challenges

  • No standardized accessibility governance

  • Accessibility considered late in development

  • Multiple teams working independently

  • Inconsistent WCAG implementation

  • Limited monitoring and reporting

  • No defined ownership across product teams

  • Growing legal and compliance risk

My Role

As Product Manager, I led the development of the enterprise accessibility strategy, roadmap, governance model, and implementation plan.

Responsibilities

  • Defined accessibility program vision

  • Developed enterprise roadmap

  • Partnered with Legal on compliance strategy

  • Established governance framework

  • Introduced enterprise accessibility standards

  • Defined team roles and responsibilities

  • Selected monitoring and reporting tools

  • Prioritized accessibility improvements

  • Drove adoption across Digital teams

  • Presented executive progress updates

Discovery

Before creating the roadmap, I evaluated the organization's accessibility maturity across multiple digital properties.

The assessment focused on:

  • Accessibility compliance

  • Design standards

  • Development practices

  • Content authoring

  • Governance

  • Monitoring capabilities

  • Team responsibilities

Key Findings

  • Development

    • Missing semantic HTML

    • Keyboard accessibility issues

    • Empty containers

    • Missing alternative text

    • Heading hierarchy problems

  • Design

    • Color contrast inconsistencies

    • Hyperlinks relying solely on color

    • Typography accessibility issues

  • Content

    • Missing image descriptions

    • Empty headings

    • Poor content structure

Product Strategy

Governance Model

  • Product Lead

    • Prioritize accessibility initiatives

    • Coordinate cross-functional work

    • Track enterprise accessibility goals

  • UX Designers

    • Design accessible interfaces

    • Ensure component compliance

    • Apply accessible visual standards

  • Developers

    • Implement accessible code

    • Resolve technical accessibility defects

    • Maintain reusable accessible components

  • Content Editors

    • Publish accessible content

    • Maintain alternative text

    • Follow established accessibility guidelines

Execution

The initial implementation focused on addressing the highest-impact accessibility issues across enterprise websites.

Improvements Included

  • Color contrast updates

  • Hyperlink identification improvements

  • Line-height adjustments

  • Missing text alternatives

  • Accessible dropdown interactions

  • Keyboard navigation support

  • Heading structure improvements

  • Video title corrections

These updates established a stronger technical foundation before expanding into governance and education.

Business Impact

The Enterprise Accessibility Program fundamentally changed how digital products were built.

Business Outcomes

  • Reduced legal and compliance risk

  • Established WCAG 2.2 AA governance

  • Improved collaboration across teams

  • Standardized accessibility processes

  • Increased accountability

  • Faster identification of accessibility issues

  • Better quality assurance

  • Improved customer experience for all users

Most importantly, accessibility evolved from a reactive compliance activity into a continuous product capability.

Accessibility is not a project—it is an operating model.

The most impactful work wasn't simply fixing accessibility defects; it was creating governance, ownership, and repeatable processes that enabled teams to maintain accessible experiences long after implementation.

By aligning Legal, Product, UX, Engineering, Content, and Site Managers around shared responsibilities, the organization moved from reactive compliance toward a scalable accessibility culture.

Results

  • 100%

    Websites that are WCAG compliant

  • 95%

    Technical accessibility improvements

  • WCAG 2.2

    Standard Adopted

  • 4.6+

    Accessibility score increase

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