That Guy

Every office has That Guy.

And let’s be clear, “That Guy” doesn’t have to be a guy. No, of course not. Ableism knows no gender boundary. But let’s also be clear that rather often That Guy is a guy and frequently a middle-aged white guy.

You know, the one that seems to come up more often than others in the “do we really need to do an accessibility” and who, maybe, has some other -isms under their belt. When you’re in a meeting and mention the accessibility objectives that the company writ large has agreed to and then… the atmosphere shifts. The Guy maybe rolls their eyes or sharply intakes a breath.

And there’s a beat in the conversation that they manage to interject into the conversation “we don’t have time to do that” or “that doesn’t matter here” or whatever the fuck reason that doesn’t really address a real concern. I have a few bits of advice to deal with That Guy.

“This Is an Expectation for the Company and Our Customers.”

I feel like this shouldn’t need to be said, but it really does. Your company may well have the expectation written in a policy book, but that doesn’t mean that people always do everything right. And sure, mistakes happen, but complete ignorance of company policy isn’t going to fly.

“Failure to Plan for a Base Requirement Isn’t a Reason to Cut That Requirement.”

This is why late work nights exist and why salaried employees don’t get overtime. Sometimes you need to suck it up and work more to meet your commitments. Commitments matter - those to our customers and their user base.

“Accessibility Isn’t a Feature. If You Need to Reduce Scope, Remove Features.”

Accessibility is a property of good development practices. You can’t remove a property of a concept if you’re planning to deliver that concept fully realized. You need to do less? Remove a concept - a page, a section, an input, whatever. But all that remains has to be accessible to meet functional requirements.

Would It Be This Easy?

We all wish it really is as easy as running down this list, but we all know there’s always a fight waiting around the corner. Maybe more these days compared to others. That guy seems to have a constant supply of hot air that mirages the world around him, and you have not to breathe that air.

Breathing that and you may well float away on the wind.

Published on February 24, 2025