What Is an Accessibility Champion, and Why Do You Need One?

Across Europe and the U.K., digital accessibility is not optional. Regulatory pressures are mounting: public organisations must meet requirements under the European Union Web Accessibility Directive (WAD), and the European Accessibility Act (EAA) extends these expectations to many private businesses. At the same time, accessibility is increasingly recognised as a business advantage. In fact, 82% of professionals in the U.K. and EU link digital accessibility to revenue growth, according to our State of Digital Accessibility Report.

Yet despite this awareness, many accessibility initiatives struggle to scale or endure. Efforts often lack coordination, ownership, or long-term structure. In fact, insufficient process is the primary reason that U.K. and EU professionals believe they’re exposed to accessibility-related legal or regulatory action, with 51% citing this as a risk factor.

So, how can organisations transform fragmented efforts into sustainable practices? This work often begins with a single, passionate individual—an accessibility champion.

This blog will explore what an accessibility champion is, their role in shaping an impactful accessibility programme, and how you can begin championing accessibility at your organisation.

What is an accessibility champion?

An accessibility champion is someone within an organisation who takes ownership of advancing digital accessibility and embedding it into everyday ways of working. Champions can come from many different functions, including design, development, product management, legal, procurement, marketing, operations, or human resources.

They typically play a central, enabling role, with responsibilities including:

• Securing leadership buy-in for accessibility.
• Raising awareness internally.
• Coordinating accessibility efforts across functions.
• Managing accessibility policies and processes.
• Reporting on progress so that leaders understand both risk and impact.

Importantly, an accessibility champion is not necessarily an accessibility expert. What matters most is not their technical knowledge, but their ability to influence, coordinate, and advocate for accessibility across teams.

Just as importantly, an accessibility champion is neither a side-project owner operating without authority, nor a replacement for leadership accountability. Champions are most effective when leadership visibly supports accessibility and responsibility is shared across the organisation.

Why accessibility champions are essential for sustainable programmes

Without clear ownership, accessibility initiatives tend to stall. Organisations often rely on inefficient, reactive fixes—addressing issues only after facing user complaints or legal pressure—rather than building proactive, repeatable processes. As a result, progress becomes difficult to sustain, and the same issues resurface release after release.

Siloed work further limits impact. When design, development, procurement, and legal teams operate independently, accessibility efforts struggle to scale. At the same time, senior leaders may lack visibility into accessibility performance, making it harder to justify investment in tools, training, or expert support.

Accessibility champions help break this cycle. By coordinating efforts across teams and connecting accessibility work to business priorities, champions enable organisations to move from fragmented remediation to structured, long-term progress.

How to start championing accessibility at your organisation

Do you care deeply about accessibility, and want to effect change within your organisation? Turning your passion into progress requires intentional action. Use the following steps as a roadmap to align teams, embed accessibility into everyday workflows, and create a foundation for long-term success.

Remember—championing accessibility isn’t about tackling everything at once. It’s about building momentum, one small win at a time.

1. Secure buy-in and alignment.

Championing accessibility starts with making a strong business case to senior leaders. This might include emphasizing how accessibility helps reduce legal and regulatory risk, ensures procurement readiness, and strengthens brand trust and customer experience. What’s important is to align accessibility with broader organisational priorities—such as corporate responsibility, innovation, and growth—so it is treated as a strategic investment rather than a cost centre.

2. Shift the organisational mindset.

Sustainable progress requires moving teams beyond checkbox compliance. Make an effort to raise awareness of real user impact and help teams understand how inaccessible experiences create barriers for people with disabilities. By reframing accessibility as part of usability and quality, you can encourage teams to build it into their work from the start.

3. Share responsibility across roles.

An accessibility champion is a coordinator, not the sole owner of accessibility. Distribute responsibility by identifying accessibility leads across design, development, product, legal, procurement, marketing, and human resources (HR). This shared responsibility reinforces the idea that accessibility is everyone’s job—and prevents progress from depending on a single individual.

4. Equip teams to succeed.

Even motivated teams need support. Advocate for role-based training, appropriate tools, and expert guidance. This ensures teams can address accessibility proactively during design and development, rather than reacting to issues after release.

5. Embed accessibility into processes.

To scale accessibility across your organisation, you’ll need to encode it into organisational processes. This includes developing policies, incorporating accessibility into design and development workflows, and ensuring it’s considered in procurement and vendor management practices. Systematically embedding accessibility into operations creates consistency and resilience as your organisation grows.

6. Report on progress.

Communicating progress is essential to sustaining momentum. Regularly report on your programme’s impact, focusing on measurable outcomes like resolution rates, time to remediation, and issues introduced with new releases. By sharing your wins both internally and externally, you can reinforce accountability, validate investment, and keep accessibility top-of-mind across your organisation.

Accessibility champions: Turning initiatives into long-term impact

Accessibility is a journey, not a one-time project. Building resilient, inclusive digital experiences across Europe and the U.K. requires clear ownership—not just within individual teams, but across entire organisations. Accessibility champions help organisations move from fragmented, reactive efforts to sustainable programmes that scale with regulatory expectations and business growth.

For a complete roadmap to championing accessibility at your organisation, download our full Accessibility Champion’s Playbook.

Championing accessibility is easier with expert support. Level Access has empowered organisations across Europe to operationalize their accessibility efforts. To learn more about our work with European organisations, visit our Accessibility for Europe page.

Faqs

Does an accessibility champion need to be a technical expert?

No. Influence, coordination, and advocacy matter more than deep technical expertise. Technical skills can be developed through tools, training, and engagement with external accessibility specialists.

How many accessibility champions does an organisation need?

Most programmes start with one champion. As accessibility matures, organisations typically develop a network of champions across teams and regions—especially important for large or multi-country EU organisations.

How does an accessibility champion support EU regulatory compliance?

Accessibility champions help translate regulations into practical actions. They coordinate standards, training, and reporting, and ensure accessibility is embedded into everyday workflows—not addressed only during audits.