Accessibility at PlayStation

Making PlayStation’s Digital Experiences More Accessible for Everyone.

The Challenge

An accessibility audit revealed that PlayStation’s websites failed to meet standards across multiple countries.

  • Key issues:

    • Lack of accessibility guidelines and inconsistent implementations.

    • Color contrast failures, missing ARIA labels, and incorrect screen reader properties.

    • Inconsistent behaviors across components.

  • Who collaborated: Feature designers, the design system team, and engineers needed to fix all accessibility gaps.

Process & Solution

🔍 Prioritization

  • Identified components that failed accessibility standards.

  • Created a priority list of components needing fixes.

  • Assigned tasks to different designers to explore solutions.

🛠 Implementation & Collaboration

  • Led design system updates to align components with accessibility standards.

  • Worked cross-functionally with feature teams, engineers, and PMs to drive solutions.

  • Standardized the pull request (PR) process to ensure consistent accessibility fixes.

📖 Guidelines & Process Improvements

  • Developed an accessibility checklist to ensure new designs follow best practices.

  • Introduced a “designing accessibility-first” approach across teams.

  • Created a custom Figma plug-in to help designers check accessibility.

Impact & Results

✅ Improved Adoption & Testing Speed

  • Faster testing cycles due to the plug-in adoption.

  • Reduced accessibility bugs and improved system-wide accessibility within 3 months.

📊 Metrics & Success Stories

  • Full accessibility audit results will be available in 2025, but all internal tests passed against WCAG standards.

  • Cultural shift:

    • Teams are now prioritizing accessibility in design discussions.

    • Greater awareness—designers and developers are proactively considering accessibility before implementation.

    • Increased plug-in usage led to iterative improvements.

🤝 Cross-Functional Collaboration

  • Mentored designers on accessibility best practices.

  • Leadership milestone: Took ownership of roadmaps, design feedback, and proposal reviews to ensure successful implementation.

Next Steps & Takeaways

🔄 Ongoing & Future Improvements

  • Continue improving accessibility across PlayStation products.

  • Expand the documentation to ensure continued accessibility-first design.

  • Enhance the Figma plug-in with additional features.

📖 Lessons Learned

  • Communication and testing are key to successful implementation.

  • Standardized workflows & checklists help teams integrate accessibility into daily work.

  • Accessibility is not just a design issue—it requires full team collaboration.