Jakala Presents: Voices of Accessibility at CES

What the C-Suite Gets Right About Progress, Innovation, and the Moment We’re In

Sitting in the audience at CES for the panel “Voices of Accessibility: A C-Suite View on Progress & Innovation,” one thing was immediately clear: accessibility has moved well beyond compliance checklists or side-of-desk initiatives. Moderated by our own Chief Growth Officer at Jakala N.A., Lauren Sallata, the conversation brought together executive leaders from Microsoft, Verizon, Salesforce, Sony, and IBM, each offering a candid view into how accessibility is shaping strategy, product development, culture, and innovation at the highest levels of their organizations.

What made this panel especially compelling was not just the caliber of companies represented, but the shared acknowledgment that accessibility is now inseparable from business performance, innovation velocity, and long-term relevance. Across industries and platforms, the message was consistent: building inclusive experiences from the beginning is no longer optional, it’s a foundational imperative.

Accessibility as a Strategy, Not an Afterthought

Several panelists emphasized a shift that many organizations are still struggling to make: moving accessibility “left” in the product lifecycle. Fred Moltz, Chief Accessibility Officer at Verizon, described how gaining “a seat at the table” transformed accessibility from an after-the-fact fix into a catalyst for innovation. By embedding accessibility into design, user stories, and testing across the entire lifecycle, Verizon is no longer retrofitting products, it’s now designing for inclusion from day one.

This theme echoed across the panel. Whether discussing software, hardware, or platforms, executives agreed that accessibility drives better outcomes for everyone, not just people with disabilities. Inclusive design results in clearer interfaces, stronger usability, and products that scale more effectively across diverse audiences.

Culture, Humanity, and the Role of the C-Suite

From IBM’s perspective, accessibility is deeply cultural. Will Scott, Head of Accessibility Technology & Innovation at IBM, highlighted that the company’s commitment dates back more than a century, with early hiring and training programs for people with disabilities on how to operate production equipment, and adjusting workspaces to provide them independence. Today, that legacy shows up in robust accommodations, employee support systems, and a focus on creating environments where people can “bring their authentic selves to work”.

Microsoft’s Chief Accessibility Officer, Jenny Lay-Flurrie, framed accessibility as inseparable from the company’s mission to “empower every person.” Her perspective underscored a critical point for any executive audience: exclusion isn’t neutral. When accessibility is absent, people are actively disempowered at work, at home, and in society. The C-suite’s responsibility, she argued, is to manage and measure accessibility with the same rigor applied to security, privacy, or financial performance.

Progress Over Perfection in a Fast-Moving World

One of the most honest and refreshing moments in the discussion came around prioritization. Lay-Flurrie acknowledged that accessibility leaders sit alongside peers managing equally high-stakes issues, from digital safety to human rights. Trade-offs are real, and perfection is unrealistic. “Perfection is not the goal. Progress is,” she noted, emphasizing the importance of continuous advancement rather than paralysis in the face of complexity.

That mindset resonated strongly given the pace of AI innovation. With technology evolving faster than governance frameworks can keep up, accessibility leaders are being asked to make nuanced, high-impact decisions every day, often under tight timelines and shifting priorities.

Funding Models That Remove Friction

Salesforce Chief Accessibility Officer, Catherine Nichols, shared a practical example of how structural decisions can accelerate accessibility at scale. By establishing a centralized accommodations fund, Salesforce removed cost considerations from individual business units, ensuring that assistive technology, translators, and job coaches are funded without friction or internal trade-offs.

This approach reframes accessibility as a shared enterprise commitment rather than a line-item expense. It also sends a powerful cultural signal: inclusion is not conditional.

Designing Beyond Compliance

Mike Nejat, VP of Engineering, N.A. & Head of Sony U.S. Accessibility Promotion Office, offered a global perspective shaped by evolving regulatory landscapes, noting that while compliance is mandatory, particularly with recent U.S. and EU regulations, it represents only the baseline. Sony’s ambition, he explained, is to go beyond regulation by designing products and services that people of all abilities can genuinely co-create and enjoy.

Sony’s work with advocacy groups and real-world user testing illustrated how accessibility can unlock entirely new experiences. One standout example was the development of accessible in-store kiosks, designed in collaboration with visually impaired users and later deployed in hundreds of Best Buy locations. The result wasn’t just compliance; it was a better retail experience for everyone.

AI: Risk, Opportunity, and Responsibility

Unsurprisingly, AI featured prominently throughout the panel. From Salesforce’s simplified Slack layouts that reduce cognitive overload for neurodiverse users, to AI-powered summaries, transcripts, and prioritization tools, accessibility-driven innovation is already reshaping how people work.

IBM’s discussion of embedding accessibility intelligence into its Carbon Design System (and making those standards available to AI tooling) highlighted a powerful idea: AI can help reduce the cognitive burden of “doing accessibility right.” Rather than treating accessibility as “one more thing,” AI can help bake inclusive best practices directly into design and development workflows.

The Stakes: Not Repeating Past Mistakes

Perhaps the most sobering insight came from Microsoft’s assessment of the current digital landscape. Today, only an estimated 2–4% of the world’s websites are accessible. With AI systems being trained on that same inaccessible content, there is a real risk of scaling exclusion at unprecedented speed.

This moment, as several panelists noted, represents a crossroads. AI can either replicate decades of oversight, or radically accelerate inclusion if accessibility is embedded now.

A Clear Takeaway from CES: Empowering Champions and Building Momentum

As the session closed, the panel turned toward action. Common themes emerged: empower employee resource groups, invest in structured advocacy, and celebrate incremental wins. Accessibility progress often happens one product team, one feature, one conversation at a time, but those small wins compound.

Walking away from this panel, the message for leaders, especially those of us shaping digital strategy and customer experience, was unmistakable. Accessibility is not a niche discipline. It is a growth lever, an innovation engine, and a measure of organizational maturity.

At Jakala, we see this moment as both a responsibility and an opportunity: to help organizations design, build, and scale experiences that truly work for everyone...by design, not by accident.

Learn more about our Accessibility Accelerator offering, which encompasses a spectrum of action components, including intake processes, audits, and content analyses, all geared toward identifying and addressing your specific accessibility barriers and opportunities.

Jakala will provide the context and guidance to help your organization make the smartest, most informed decisions possible.