Accessibility First Class
Accessibility must be treated as a core product requirement from the design phase onward — not a post-launch audit — because retrofitting WCAG AA compliance after launch costs 10–100× more than building it in, and inacce…
$ aoe install @community/rule-accessibility-first-classProjection
Always in _index.xml · the agent never has to ask for this.
AccessibilityFirstClass [rule] v1.0.0
Accessibility must be treated as a core product requirement from the design phase onward — not a post-launch audit — because retrofitting WCAG AA compliance after launch costs 10–100× more than building it in, and inaccessible products exclude users and create legal liability.
Loaded when retrieval picks the atom as adjacent / supporting.
AccessibilityFirstClass [rule] v1.0.0
Accessibility must be treated as a core product requirement from the design phase onward — not a post-launch audit — because retrofitting WCAG AA compliance after launch costs 10–100× more than building it in, and inaccessible products exclude users and create legal liability.
Meta
- License: Apache-2.0
- License Provenance: package-authorship-claim
Rule
// Accessibility enters the checklist at:
// Design phase: color contrast tokens, focus state designs, touch target sizing, motion decisions
// Component build: semantic HTML first, ARIA second, keyboard patterns with every component
// Code review: axe-core zero-error gate; check-focus-visible; check-skip-link; check-aria-label-required
// QA: manual keyboard-only navigation; screen reader (VoiceOver/NVDA) smoke test
Implementation Checklist
- Design: color tokens pass 4.5:1 AA contrast; dark-mode tokens also checked
- Design: touch targets ≥ 44px documented; focus states drawn for every interactive component
- Build: semantic HTML elements chosen before ARIA roles (see @community/rule-aria-native-first)
- Build: every interactive component has an accessible name strategy
- Build: keyboard interaction pattern documented and implemented for custom widgets
- CI: axe-core Playwright tests block merges on accessibility violations
- Release: VoiceOver + keyboard-only smoke test on critical user flows
Severity
block
Anti Pattern
@community/anti-pattern-accessibility-after-thought
Loaded when retrieval picks the atom as a focal / direct hit.
AccessibilityFirstClass [rule] v1.0.0
Accessibility must be treated as a core product requirement from the design phase onward — not a post-launch audit — because retrofitting WCAG AA compliance after launch costs 10–100× more than building it in, and inaccessible products exclude users and create legal liability.
Meta
- License: Apache-2.0
- License Provenance: package-authorship-claim
Rule
// Accessibility enters the checklist at:
// Design phase: color contrast tokens, focus state designs, touch target sizing, motion decisions
// Component build: semantic HTML first, ARIA second, keyboard patterns with every component
// Code review: axe-core zero-error gate; check-focus-visible; check-skip-link; check-aria-label-required
// QA: manual keyboard-only navigation; screen reader (VoiceOver/NVDA) smoke test
Implementation Checklist
- Design: color tokens pass 4.5:1 AA contrast; dark-mode tokens also checked
- Design: touch targets ≥ 44px documented; focus states drawn for every interactive component
- Build: semantic HTML elements chosen before ARIA roles (see @community/rule-aria-native-first)
- Build: every interactive component has an accessible name strategy
- Build: keyboard interaction pattern documented and implemented for custom widgets
- CI: axe-core Playwright tests block merges on accessibility violations
- Release: VoiceOver + keyboard-only smoke test on critical user flows
Severity
block
Anti Pattern
@community/anti-pattern-accessibility-after-thought
Relations
related: [@community/anti-pattern-accessibility-after-thought, @community/constraint-accessibility-aa-minimum, @community/method-a11y-audit, @community/counter-example-aria-bandaid, @community/example-radix-dialog, @community/example-catalyst-app, @community/rule-focus-visible]
Rationale
Treating accessibility as optional leads to three compounding harms: (1) exclusion of users with disabilities who represent ~15% of the global population, (2) technical debt from retrofit that requires redesigning interaction patterns, component architecture, and color systems, (3) legal risk under ADA, WCAG-referenced EU Directive 2019/882, and similar legislation globally.
Meta
- License: Apache-2.0
- License Provenance: package-authorship-claim
Rule
// Accessibility enters the checklist at:
// Design phase: color contrast tokens, focus state designs, touch target sizing, motion decisions
// Component build: semantic HTML first, ARIA second, keyboard patterns with every component
// Code review: axe-core zero-error gate; check-focus-visible; check-skip-link; check-aria-label-required
// QA: manual keyboard-only navigation; screen reader (VoiceOver/NVDA) smoke test
Implementation Checklist
- Design: color tokens pass 4.5:1 AA contrast; dark-mode tokens also checked
- Design: touch targets ≥ 44px documented; focus states drawn for every interactive component
- Build: semantic HTML elements chosen before ARIA roles (see @community/rule-aria-native-first)
- Build: every interactive component has an accessible name strategy
- Build: keyboard interaction pattern documented and implemented for custom widgets
- CI: axe-core Playwright tests block merges on accessibility violations
- Release: VoiceOver + keyboard-only smoke test on critical user flows
Severity
block
Anti Pattern
@community/anti-pattern-accessibility-after-thought
Source
aoe-engine/examples/frontend-design/primes/compiled/@community/rule-accessibility-first-class/atom.yaml