Fable

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (#GAAD). It’s a reminder that accessibility is about far more than compliance. Accessibility is about whether people can independently access and participate in essential parts of everyday life. For people with disabilities, inaccessible digital experiences are often much more than frustrating or inconvenient. They can mean losing access to essential services, employment, communication, independence, and everyday experiences that many people take for granted. In this video, members of Fable’s tester community share the real impact of inaccessible digital experiences on their daily lives and why inclusive design matters. The most meaningful accessibility insights come directly from the people experiencing the barriers, and that’s why it’s so important to include lived experiences when shaping digital products. #GAAD #AccessibilityAwareness #UX #InclusiveDesign

We’re honoured to share that Fable has been named to the Forbes Accessibility 200 list, alongside so many organizations helping build a more accessible future. This year’s list highlights how AI is shaping increasingly personalized digital experiences. But as innovation accelerates, one thing remains clear: products work better when people with disabilities are included in the process of creating them. Especially during GAAD week, we’re grateful to be part of a community that's pushing accessibility and inclusive innovation forward. https://lnkd.in/eQfqFvxq #GAAD #Accessibility #AI #InclusiveDesign #DigitalAccessibility #ForbesAccessibility200

We had a great first day at Learners Research Week! If you’re at the event this week, stop by to visit the Fable crew at booth C5 to chat about all things accessibility research and inclusive design. And be sure to say hi to Carrie Morales, an accessibility tester who’s been part of the Fable community for over 5 years. Carrie brings lived experience and invaluable insight to every conversation, and we’re lucky to have her with us this week. #ResearchWeek2026

We’ll be at Learners Research Week in San Francisco this May! You can find us at Booth C5 in the Festival Pavilion. Our team has a lot of firsthand experience with accessibility strategy, UX research, and building inclusive research programs.  Here’s who you’ll meet: - Toan Dinh, CEO - Amber Knabl, Director of GTM Enablement - Richard Royal Hiladie, Head of Sales - Victoria Bull, MBA, Head of Customer Experience - Elana Chapman, Senior Manager, Accessibility Research - Megha G., UX Researcher Want to book time with our team in advance? Schedule a meeting here:  https://lnkd.in/edfz_see

We’re heading to the UX360 Summit in Atlanta next week! This year’s conference focuses on how UX researchers can have more impact across teams and shape decisions, including how we design with and for people with disabilities. If you’re attending, our team would love to connect: - Toan Dinh, CEO - Jesse Mirsky, Manager of Customer Success - Richard Royal Hiladie, Head of Sales - Erin McLellan, Senior Event Manager Let us know if you'll be there!

What does it take to scale accessibility across large product teams? Our latest report breaks down how teams at Target, U.S. Bank, Warner Music Group, and The Cigna Group are approaching it. - Warner Music Group built accessibility directly into their design system - Target embeds accessibility champions in product teams - The Cigna Group created a Center of Excellence to guide teams across the organization What these approaches have in common is how they distribute accessibility knowledge across teams, rather than relying on a single group of experts. As Jamie Revelle, Director of Digital Equity at The Cigna Group, puts it: “Strong central leadership paired with distributed responsibility is what allows accessibility to scale. It’s not because one team touches everything, but because the organization as a whole becomes more capable, confident, and accountable for building inclusive experiences.” If you’re working to scale accessibility across design, product, or engineering teams, our report with Design Executive Council shares practical examples from organizations doing this at enterprise scale. Download the report now: https://lnkd.in/eABmzXFR

At U.S. Bank, a small accessibility fix led to a better experience for everyone. Blind and low-vision customers were having trouble knowing when their check was positioned correctly in mobile deposit. The team introduced automatic image capture and voice prompts to guide the process. Those changes solved the problem and made the experience faster and easier for all customers. As Marissa Woodbeck, Head of Digital Accessibility, Experience Design, puts it: “1 in 4 Americans lives with a disability, but accessible design benefits the other 3 as well, including everyone from people recovering from temporary injuries to someone balancing 3 bags of groceries.” We see this play out across product categories: designing accessible features improves the experience for all users. Get more examples of this from Target, Warner Music Group, and The Cigna Group in our latest report, The Accessibility Advantage. Download the report today: https://lnkd.in/eABmzXFR

There’s a common thread through our conversations with design leaders from Target, U.S. Bank, Warner Music Group, and The Cigna Group: accessibility doesn’t slow things down. In fact, with accessibility built into the product development process, teams can ship high-quality products faster and improve customer experiences. Here are four ways these teams are making accessibility work in practice: 1. Shared ownership trumps centralized control. 2. Use accessibility in design systems to scale what works. 3. Activate champions and accountability. 4. Embed accessibility into everyday workflows. Jamie Revelle, Director of Digital Equity at The Cigna Group puts it best: “Excellence means designing governance that helps teams succeed. Strong central leadership paired with distributed responsibility is what allows accessibility to scale. It’s not because one team touches everything but because the organization as a whole becomes more capable, confident, and accountable for building inclusive experiences.” Our latest blog breaks down these four approaches and other key insights from our latest webinar. Read the full blog post here: https://lnkd.in/eBijwKyy

Accessibility work often starts with guidelines like WCAG. And these guidelines are important for identifying many common accessibility barriers. But some usability challenges can only be surfaced through real-world use. In a new article by Jeffrey Guerrero, he shares what his team at Mozilla learned by working with Fable to research and test their digital products with Fable’s Community of people with disabilities. This line from one of his team members puts it simply: “This kind of research should be a standard part of the design process.” Inclusive design requires learning directly from the people you're designing for. Pairing accessibility standards with insights from people’s lived experiences leads to stronger, more usable experiences. Read Jeff's full article: https://lnkd.in/g652EnPG

Accessibility doesn’t have to be expensive, but fixing it late usually is. U.S. Bank has found that fixing accessibility issues in production can cost 3-4 times more than addressing them during design or testing. So where does that cost come from? “We’ll fix it later” turns into redesigning flows that already shipped, reworking code that’s already live, and squeezing fixes into tight timelines. By shifting left to bring accessibility into discovery and design, teams can: - Catch issues earlier - Avoid rework later - Keep things moving with fewer last-minute fixes One of the clearest takeaways from Fable's latest report with Design Executive Council is that accessibility becomes much easier (and less costly) when it isn’t left until the end. Caleb Schmidt, Senior Vice President and Head of Experience Design at U.S. Bank says: “Investing upfront isn’t just smart – it’s a proven strategy to save time, reduce expenses, and deliver high-quality experiences.” If you’re working on scaling accessibility across design and product teams, our latest report shares how organizations like U.S. Bank, Target, Warner Music Group, and The Cigna Group are approaching it. Download the report to see what shifting left can look like in practice: https://lnkd.in/eABmzXFR