🌟 Westpac ~ A11y Bits

A micro-learning accessibility system designed to build confidence, reduce overwhelm, and embed inclusive design into everyday workflows

Role
UX Designer & Researcher

Duration
6 months

Tools
Figma

WCAG 2.2 AA Guidelines

🌌 Introduction

During my time at Westpac as a UX Designer and Accessibility Advocate, I created A11y Bits — a series of 33 bite-sized learning modules designed to make accessibility feel approachable, human, and actionable.

This project was born from a simple but important question:

How do we support designers in practicing accessibility with confidence, not fear?

Rather than overwhelming teams with dense guidelines or compliance-heavy documentation, A11y Bits reframes accessibility as something learnable, supportive, and deeply human.

🌼 Overview

A11y Bits was designed to gently uplift accessibility knowledge across the Service Design team — moving from baseline awareness toward WCAG 2.2 AA confidence.

The goal wasn’t just education, but behaviour change.

This meant:

  • Supporting designers within their workflows, not outside them
  • Reducing anxiety around “getting accessibility wrong”
  • Embedding practical, real-world guidance into everyday design decisions
  • Encouraging empathy for users with diverse needs

At its core, this project reframes accessibility from compliance → care.

👀 The Problem

How might we support designers in understanding and applying accessibility in a way that feels clear, achievable, and aligned with both user needs and business expectations?

At the time, accessibility knowledge across the team was inconsistent, and often unclear.

When asked:

“Are you clear on your responsibility for accessibility in your projects?”

  • Yes — 22%
  • No — 22%
  • Maybe — 55%

This highlighted a key insight:

Most designers weren’t resistant to accessibility — they were uncertain.

🔭 The Process

Using the Double Diamond approach, I focused first on understanding the team as users — their pain points, mental models, and barriers to action.

Research methods included:

  • Accessibility Polls
  • Knowledge Check Assessments
  • WCAG 2.2 AA Guideline analysis
  • Competitor and internal tooling review
  • Usability testing of learning concepts

💫 Key Insights

  • Accessibility felt abstract and disconnected from day-to-day design work
  • WCAG guidelines were perceived as complex and difficult to translate into practice
  • Designers wanted to do the right thing, but lacked confidence and clarity
  • Learning needed to be quick, contextual, and human-centered

🧠 Knowledge Check Findings

A baseline accessibility knowledge check revealed that while some understanding existed, there were gaps in application and confidence.

This reinforced an important shift in approach:

Accessibility education shouldn’t start with rules.

It should start with people.

🌿 Design Approach

Instead of creating long-form training or rigid documentation, I designed a system that felt:

  • Bite-sized and low-pressure
  • Easy to revisit during real project work
  • Grounded in real user experiences
  • Supportive rather than overwhelming

📝 A11y Bits (The Solution)

A11y Bits is a collection of 33 micro-learning modules designed to fit naturally into a designer’s workflow.

Each module focuses on a single concept, such as:

  • Colour contrast
  • Keyboard navigation
  • Focus states
  • Alt text
  • Form errors
  • Readability and structure

Rather than presenting accessibility as a checklist, each module connects guidelines to real human impact.

The content was designed to:

  • Build empathy before rules
  • Translate WCAG into practical design decisions
  • Provide clear, actionable examples
  • Reduce cognitive load through concise, structured learning

🌐 Integration & Impact

A11y Bits was embedded into Westpac’s internal Access & Inclusion site, making it accessible to teams across the organisation.

This allowed accessibility learning to become:

  • Ongoing rather than one-off
  • Self-paced and flexible
  • Easily referenced during active design work

🔑 Core Framework: POUR

To anchor the learning experience, I structured content around the WCAG POUR principles:

Perceivable
If users can’t perceive your content, they can’t interact with it.

Design must support multiple ways of seeing, hearing, and understanding.

Operable
If users can’t navigate or interact, they’re excluded.

Design must work beyond just a mouse or touchscreen.

Understandable
If users feel confused, they disengage.

Clarity, consistency, and plain language are essential.

Robust
If your design breaks across devices or assistive tech, it’s not accessible.

Experiences must work reliably for all users.

🌱 Accessibility as a Non-Checklist

One of the key outputs was an Accessibility Non-Checklist — a reframing of accessibility away from rigid compliance and toward thoughtful design thinking.

Because accessibility isn’t just about passing audits.

It’s about creating experiences where people feel included, supported, and able to participate.

🔑 Why this Matters

This project reflects my broader philosophy as a designer:

Accessibility is not a constraint — it’s a form of care.

As someone who is neurodivergent, I approach design through the lens of clarity, predictability, and emotional safety.

A11y Bits wasn’t just about teaching accessibility.

It was about reducing fear, building confidence, and helping designers feel capable of doing meaningful, inclusive work.

🎨 Beyond Westpac: A11y Crumbs

Following this work, I continued exploring accessible learning through A11y Crumbs, a public-facing extension of these ideas.

This allowed me to expand accessibility education beyond internal teams and into the wider community.

⭐️ Final Thoughts

A11y Bits transformed accessibility from something intimidating into something approachable.

It showed that learning doesn’t need to be overwhelming to be effective, it just needs to be thoughtful, human, and well-designed.

🌠 What Next?

  • Exploring how micro-learning can support neurodivergent designers
  • Designing tools that reduce decision fatigue in accessibility workflows
  • Investigating how accessibility guidance can be embedded directly into design systems
  • Continuing to reframe accessibility as emotional, human-centered design