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The Digital Accessibility Podcast – Matt Roberts
In this episode of The Digital Accessibility Podcast, Joe is joined by Matt Roberts, a designer, design leader, and accessibility advocate whose lived experience has profoundly shaped his approach to inclusive design.
As a colourblind designer, Matt brings a personal and practical perspective to accessibility, challenging the idea that inclusion is a constraint on creativity. Throughout his career, spanning hands-on design roles and senior leadership positions, he has consistently embedded accessibility into design thinking, team culture, and decision-making.
We discuss:
- A personal journey into accessibility: Matt’s path into design, how discovering accessibility changed his perspective, and how lived experience has influenced his professional values.
- Designing with colourblindness: The real-world challenges of colour-reliant design systems, what often gets overlooked, and how designing beyond colour benefits everyone.
- Accessibility by design, not retrofit: Why accessibility works best when it’s embedded from the very start of the design process, and how early decisions shape inclusive outcomes.
- Leadership and influence: How moving into leadership roles creates opportunities to scale accessibility across teams, and why mindset matters as much as tooling.
- Pushback and misconceptions: Common myths around accessibility, creativity, time, and budget, and how Matt reframes these conversations with stakeholders.
- Practical advice for designers: Small, achievable steps designers can take today to make their work more inclusive, even without specialist tools or large budgets.
Matt also reflects on why accessibility should be seen as a core design skill, not a niche specialism, and how empathy, awareness, and better design choices can lead to more inclusive digital experiences for everyone.
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- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeajames/
- Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/A11yJoe
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PCRDigital
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