Tuesday, July 29, 2025, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM CDT
Harvard University is in the middle of a multi-year project, migrating thousands of websites from an out-of-date environment to a newly designed Drupal platform. As part of this undertaking, we built the HarvardSites Design System to support accessibility and design requirements for sites produced using the new platform.
Our design system guiding principles are Accessible, Communal, Empowering, and Scalable (ACES). Leading with accessibility in our principles, actions, and decision-making has proven to be a powerful way to ensure the websites built on the design system are accessible from the beginning. We’ve also developed a set of Digital Design Standards and Guidelines to guide creation of new websites and future-proof digital content from falling out of alignment with accessibility standards.
In this session we’ll show the importance of prioritizing accessibility from the very beginning of design system creation and throughout its development. We’ll share practical ways to incorporate accessibility practices into design and development workflows, and the impact of testing design system components with users of assistive technologies. Looking forward, we’ll discuss how the design system can preserve accessibility in future platform enhancements.
