Making Intuit products accessible for everyone.

Instilling accessibility best practices into Intuit’s design org. Initiating and driving accessibility audits and quality drives.

Company

Intuit

Timeline

+3 years

Role

Product, content, & visual designer. Accessibility leader.

Outcome

Identified and resolved +100 accessibility gaps, significantly improving product usability and compliance. Led +10 comprehensive accessibility audits across key workflows, helping embed inclusive design practices into our product development lifecycle. Defined accessible content practices for Intuit’s public-facing content site.

Summary

As a designer at Intuit, being an accessibility leader was crucial because it ensured our products could be used by everyone, regardless of ability. By initiating and leading accessibility audits, I helped uncover critical gaps in our user experience and worked cross-functionally to address them—making our product more inclusive, compliant, and user-friendly for all customers.

Areas of focus

  • Interaction

    Keyboard accessibility

    Focus styles

    Component states

  • Visual

    Inclusive illustrations and iconography

    Color contrast

    Visual cues

  • Content

    Alt text

    Anti-racist language

    Readability, usability, and inclusivity

Let’s walk through some examples

We’ll cover issues that I frequently encounter during audits, including:

  • Component states

  • Visual cues

  • Inclusive language

Component states

This is a X

The problems ❌

  • Disabled state is a blocker

  • Screen readers skip the disabled field

  • No clear path forward

  • Relies on engineering lingo

The solution ✅

  • Avoid using disabled states

  • Provide a clear, actionable field-level error message

  • Write for a 5th to 8th grade reading level

Visual cues

This is a list of tasks that QuickBooks users must complete to set up payroll.

The problems ❌

  • Lack of color contrast

  • Color is the sole indicator of completion

The solution ✅

  • Increase the color contrast and use a contrast checker tool

  • Use an element, like an icon, in addition to color to indicate that the task is complete

  • Change the completed state content

  • Add a countdown to show how many tasks are left for each incomplete section

Inclusive language

This is an introductory page for employers to learn more about offering retirement plans.

The problems ❌

  • “Easy” is not an accessible term

  • “White glove” is not an inclusive term

  • Location cues and color are used to provide direction

The solution ✅

  • Replace “easy” with a more specific, accessible adjective

  • Replace “white glove” with a clear, inclusive term

  • Direct the user to a specific page and avoid location cues

Guiding principles

In general, I operate by the POUR guidelines for accessibility, consisting of four principles:

  • Perceivable

  • Operable

  • Understandable

  • Robust

Automated test tools

I utilize +8 tools to increase accessibility and usability, including YouDescribe, Lighthouse, VoiceOver for iOS, WAVE, and Intuit’s internal AI system. I actively share these tools with my cross-functional and design teams, frequently hosting office hours and team trainings.

Awards and recognition

Intuit’s Level 2 Accessibility Champion badge represents advanced proficiency in inclusive design and a strong commitment to accessibility in product development. It signifies the ability to identify and resolve complex accessibility issues, provide guidance to cross-functional teams, and embed accessibility best practices throughout the design process.

In my +800 person org, I was the 11th Level 2 Accessibility Champion, and the first visual designer to achieve this milestone.

“Brittany joins a small group of 10 product leaders who have dedicated their time gaining deep empathy in the customer experience and driving product excellence.”

- Ted Drake, Intuit Global Accessibility Leader

Outcomes

Identified and resolved +100 accessibility gaps, significantly improving product usability and compliance. Led +10 accessibility audits across key workflows, helping embed inclusive design practices into our product development lifecycle. Defined accessible content practices for Intuit’s public-facing content site.

Created close captioning for X videos and audio transcriptions for X videos.

I raised accessibility awareness across Intuit’s large design org, contributed to the accessibility section of the design system, and created tools and resources for designers to use to make QuickBooks accessible. Ultimately, laying the groundwork for a robust design community of accessibility champions.

Served as an accessibility expert for my +600 person org review panel.