The term "accessible design" is often misunderstood as a legal obligation or a checklist to be satisfied at the end of a project. In reality, accessibility is an orientation — a decision made at the very beginning to treat the diversity of human ability as the norm, not the exception.
Consider the curb cut effect: the sidewalk ramps designed for wheelchair users became indispensable for parents with strollers, delivery workers, and travellers with luggage. Inclusive design does not narrow the experience; it widens it. The constraint of designing for the edge case almost always improves the experience for everyone else.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide a framework — perceivable, operable, understandable, robust — but these are entry conditions, not ambitions. The real work is developing the empathy to see your design through eyes, hands, and minds that are not your own.