Digital Accessibility 2025: why the role of the designer is (more than ever) central

Digital accessibility is no longer a niche topic. With the 2025 regulatory deadlines introduced by the European Accessibility Act approaching, companies and public institutions are rethinking their digital products to ensure minimum standards of inclusion.

But reducing accessibility to a checklist of requirements would be a strategic mistake, even before being an ethical one. Because an accessible product isn’t just compliant: it’s better.

At 20tab, we know this well: building digital products that truly work means making them usable for everyone, without exceptions. And this is where the designer’s role becomes fundamental.

The role of designers in creating accessible digital experiences

Our UX/UI Designer, Virginia Capoluongo, perfectly captures the responsibility design holds in digital accessibility:

As designers, we carry significant responsibilities: we are the ones who build the bridges between people and digital products. It’s not just about choosing the right colors or placing a button in the right spot, but about designing with intention, so that everyone can access the information, services, and opportunities the digital world offers.

Accessible design starts here: with the awareness that every choice, even the smallest one, can include or exclude. It’s not an aesthetic bonus or a marginal detail: it’s the foundation of a digital product that truly works.

Designing for all users: what inclusive UX/UI really means

The deadlines set by the European Accessibility Act mark an important shift: from 2025, many digital products and services will need to be legally accessible.

But compliance, while essential, is only the first step. As Virginia reminds us:

“digital spaces shouldn’t be a privilege for the few, but a welcoming environment for everyone.”

From this perspective, accessibility reveals its deeper nature: not a box to tick, but an ethical commitment to every person who uses - or would like to use - a digital product.

Ensuring equal access means improving the quality of life for millions of people, helping them navigate, learn, work, communicate, and feel included in the digital world. And it concerns a much wider audience than those with permanent disabilities.

A clearer, more readable and navigable interface supports people using a smartphone in challenging conditions, those who are tired or distracted, those with a slow connection, those who are not fluent in the language, those facing temporary limitations, and of course those using assistive technologies.

Accessibility simply improves the overall user experience. Always.

Integrating accessibility into the entire product lifecycle

It is also a shared responsibility that goes beyond design. Development, content, QA and product management all play complementary roles in creating truly inclusive experiences: every visual, technical or semantic decision contributes to building the bridge between product and people.

As Virginia notes:

“thanks to the sensitivity of our technical team, we always do everything we can to make our products accessible, even when it’s not explicitly requested, and not only on the design side.”

Accessibility is not just about following guidelines: it is a product culture, an act of care, a conscious choice. And to make it work, you need a team that truly believes in it.

How We Approach Accessibility at 20tab

In our daily work, we integrate accessibility into every stage of the product lifecycle:

• Product Discovery: We identify real needs and potential barriers from the very beginning.
• UX/UI Design: We design inclusive, scalable interfaces aligned with WCAG standards.
• Development: Our technical team implements accessible components, proper markup, semantic structure, best practices for screen readers and for complex interactions.
• Iteration & QA: We test, measure, fix, and continuously improve, even when not required by formal specifications.

For us, accessibility is not a “deliverable”: it is a way of thinking, designing and building products.

The Future of Accessibility (beyond 2025)

Regulations will accelerate an essential shift, but they won’t be enough on their own.

The future of digital products requires teams who see accessibility as a quality principle, who build bridges rather than just interfaces, who truly put people at the center and measure product value in terms of impact, not just aesthetics.

And ultimately, this has always been 20tab’s mission: creating experiences that truly work for everyone.