So you think you want an Accessibility Advisory Council?
What to do, and more importantly, what to avoid
Creating an accessibility advisory board/council (I use the terms interchangeably in this article) can help organizations stay accountable, gather feedback from disabled stakeholders, and prevent harmful accessibility decisions.
When structured well, accessibility advisory boards can serve as reality checks and strategic partnerships.
When handled poorly, they become little more than a box-checking performance that can backfire.
Here’s how to do it right—and what mistakes to avoid.
Build your Accessibility Advisory Board on a Foundation of Purpose, Not Optics
Many accessibility advisory boards start with a press release on a disability awareness day, such as Global Accessibility Awareness Day, but lack a clear plan. If your organization’s goal is simply to announce publicly that you have an accessibility advisory board, you’re setting up both the board and company for failure. Start by defining why you want the council to exist. Common reasons include:
Identifying accessibility issues prior to launch
Evaluating product usability by people who use assistive technology.
Gathering feedback to inform inclusive design
Validating the impact of corporate accessibility initiatives
Accessibility Advisory Boards Must Be Empowered to Say the Hard Stuff . . .
I cannot stress this enough: If the organization’s primary goal of having an accessibility advisory board is to avoid bad publicity or make the organization appear more inclusive, you will never receive honest accessibility feedback and the purpose of the board will never be achieved.
An effective accessibility advisory board is not a cheerleading squad. Its members must be free to say what the hosting organization may not want to hear. Boards must have the autonomy to call out when things aren’t working, without fear of being ignored, punished, or tokenized.
Board feedback should be delivered directly to the product team, senior leadership, or decision-makers. Otherwise, organizations run the risk of accessibility advisory board feedback being filtered or watered down by middle managers trying to “protect the brand.” The board should have protected communication channels, the ability to escalate unresolved issues, and assurances that negative feedback won’t lead to retaliation or loss of compensation.
. . . and the Organization Needs to Listen
Giving an accessibility advisory board access and permission to speak openly means nothing if the organization isn’t prepared to act on what it hears. The answer doesn’t always have to be “yes,” but the deliberation process and tradeoffs need to be transparently conveyed to board members.
Too often, feedback gets buried in reports that no one reads or is dismissed because it’s “not aligned with current priorities.” Listening means more than collecting input. It means being open to changing the way things are done. Suggested changes may include adjusting resource allocation, revising timelines, and occasionally making difficult decisions. Organizations must build formal accountability pathways that track feedback through to resolution, with clear owners and visible follow-up. Without that commitment, council participation becomes performative, and trust erodes quickly.
Set Clear Agreements Upfront on NDAs and IP Rights
Any accessibility advisory board that interacts with pre-release products or internal strategy must have proper legal safeguards in place. This is not legal advice, but two key documents for almost any accessibility advisory board include:
1. Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs):
Members need to sign NDAs if they will review sensitive or proprietary information. However, NDAs must be fair and not overly restrictive. A gag order on publicly criticizing the company’s accessibility failures undermines the board’s credibility and violates ethical norms. NDAs should permit members to discuss accessibility principles, even if they cannot disclose specific product details. They should also allow the member to discuss their participation on the board.
2. Intellectual Property (IP) Assignment :
Because board members are likely to propose features and make implementation recommendations, the organization needs an IP agreement that clarifies ownership of those ideas. Depending on the organization and the level of compensation, an organization may seek a range of IP rights, from a limited-use license to full IP assignment. However, full IP assignment for unpaid or below-market-rate work is exploitative, especially when that IP draws on lived experience. Avoid asking for broad, perpetual rights unless members are being fairly compensated.
Pay People. Exposure Isn’t Compensation.
This cannot be said strongly enough: Disabled people cannot and should not be expected to donate their expertise. This is doubly true in for-profit organizations. Accessibility board members must be paid. Compensation should reflect:
The time commitment for meetings and preparation
The professional value of their input
Any deliverables required (e.g., reviewing designs or prototypes, writing feedback)
Stipends, hourly pay, or retainer-based models are all viable options. If an organization’s budget in other areas has room for consultants and agency fees, it can figure out how to compensate disabled board members. Relying on “volunteer” or "employee voices devalues the very people organizations are claiming to center when establishing an accessibility advisory board.
Don’t Expect Board Members to Travel
Expecting accessibility council members to travel for meetings, particularly at their own expense, is one of the quickest ways to undermine disability inclusion. Travel creates barriers for many disabled individuals, including those with mobility limitations, chronic health conditions, immune sensitivities, or caregiving responsibilities. Some may be unable to fly, manage hotel stays, or navigate unfamiliar environments safely or comfortably. Travel and expense portals are frequently inaccessible. Even if the company offers to reimburse travel costs, that often isn’t enough. Reimbursements require members to front money they may not have.
The solution is simple: hold meetings virtually unless a member asks to attend in person. Make remote participation the default, not the fallback. If an in-person meeting is necessary, consider tying it to an existing accessibility conference that most of your board members will be attending anyway. All board meetings must be both digitally and physically accessible, with live captioning, sign language interpretation, screen reader–friendly materials, and real-time chat support. If any part of your meeting process is inaccessible, take this as a sign from above that your organization is absolutely 100 % NOT ready for an accessibility advisory board.
Keep the Group Diverse and Representative
Don’t just fill your board with screen reader users or wheelchair users. Disability is not a monolith. Your board should reflect a cross-section of disabilities and lived experiences, including:
People with sensory, mobility, cognitive, and mental health disabilities
People with invisible disabilities involving autoimmune conditions, fatigue, and chronic pain.
Neurodivergent individuals
People from racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds
Different genders, languages, and cultural perspectives
You don’t need one of every kind of disability, but avoid tokenism and overrepresentation of “easier to accommodate” groups. Yes, it takes effort and cost to include board members who use sign language or Augmentative and Alternative Communications (AAC) devices. Do it anyway.
Your participants should not have any previous financial ties to your organization. Honest feedback is rare when participants are employees, vendors, or contractors.
Structure the Meetings for Respect, Continuity, and Impact
Accessibility advisory boards work best when they’re structured, not when meetings are added as an afterthought. An effective structure includes:
Quarterly (at least) cadence: This provides enough time for reflection, while not losing momentum.
Pre-distributed agenda and materials: Allows members to prepare using their preferred formats. It should go without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that all distributed materials MUST be accessible!
Dedicated notetaker (not a board member): Allow contributors to focus on sharing, not documentation.
Professional facilitator (not a board member): Ensure that all contributors are heard equally, the agenda is followed, and issues are placed in a parking lot when necessary.
Clear channels for follow-up: Identify where feedback is sent, who reviews it, and the next steps.
Response loop: Every board recommendation should receive a documented response, even if it’s “not prioritized at this time, and here’s why.”
Avoid meetings that exist solely to showcase new features. If the meetings are held after features are complete, the organization is wasting everyone’s time and is seeking praise, not feedback. Board meetings should focus more on organization representatives listening and less on talking. That is a challenging concept for many organizations to adopt, especially if they tend to become defensive when negative feedback is provided, such as “this needs more work.”
Avoid Common Board Pitfalls That Undermine Trust
Several mistakes can easily wipe out any good done by an accessibility advisory board:
Don’t use the board as a marketing tool: Your press team should not be attending board meetings. Period. Individual members must be allowed to review and approve any public statements made by the organization about the board.
Don’t invite only people who support the organization: Healthy disagreement in these meetings is a feature, not a bug.
Don’t cancel meetings when there’s “nothing to discuss”: There is always something to discuss, and it isn’t always about the product. Your board members could, for example, “secret shop” training and customer support to assess whether the entire experience is accessible to customers with disabilities.
Don’t treat board members as “extra QA”: Unless you’re paying them as such, don’t ask for detailed testing. That’s a separate function.
Don’t hide issues from the board: If you aren’t willing to share the full picture, you aren’t ready for honest feedback.
Don’t keep the same people on the board forever. Fresh perspectives require a constant rotation of participants who serve for a specific term.
Measure Impact, not Participation
It’s tempting to track vanity metrics, such as the number of Board meetings held or the number of members who attended. What matters more is whether the board influenced any changes. Keep records of:
Which suggestions were implemented
Which issues were escalated and resolved
What measurable improvements were tied to board feedback
Member satisfaction and retention
Share those results with the board, your internal stakeholders, and, when appropriate, the public. Transparency builds credibility and helps demonstrate the value of the board’s work.
Let the Board Help Shape Its Own Direction
Invite board members to help set priorities. Maybe they want to weigh in on onboarding experiences. Maybe the real pain point is your hiring portal. Accessibility advisory boards function best when they aren’t just reactive but have a voice in shaping what gets addressed. Asking “What do you want to focus on next quarter?” at the end of each meeting turns your board from a feedback tool into a strategic partner. That’s when the real value of accessibility advisory boards emerges.
Final Thoughts
An accessibility advisory board is not an organization tossing a bone to the disability community. It’s a responsibility that can seriously backfire if the organization that sponsors it does not handle it with care. When structured with respect, transparency, and accountability, it becomes a vital bridge between intention and outcome. When used to check a box or placate critics, accessibility advisory boards fail everyone, especially the people they’re supposed to serve.
Done well, accessibility advisory boards are one of the most powerful tools an organization can have for getting accessibility right. Just don’t expect it to work unless you’re prepared to listen, act, and pay people for their time.