Business Analyst Role Specific Information
The business analyst (BA) role at most large companies is different in different groups and departments, so the advice on this page may not apply to your specific function. That said, in general BAs are responsible for understanding business imperatives and for translating those into technical requirements. In that regard, digital accessibility should be treated similarly to security, performance, and other baseline requirements that all projects must meet.
According to the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), the BA should:
- Evaluate design and development tools, features, and platform components for their ability to support the requirements.
- Specify features and select tools and components that support the requirements.
- Ensure content creation, delivery, and governance mechanisms support the requirements.
- Plan for content creation, delivery, and governance.
- Ensure keyboard and non-visual access requirements are included in all design and behavior decisions.
Accessibility is most effective, easiest, and least expensive when it is integrated into a project from the start. Therefor, BAs should champion accessibility during the planning stages of new projects. BAs should ensure that UX, design, and marketing are doing their part to support accessibility, rather than leaving accessibility as an afterthought to be handled during development and QA.
Although they typically do not write code, BAs should familiarize themselves with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices so they can facilitate conversations with developers.
Do you know of any BA-specific articles or resources? Please let me know so I can include them here.
Gaining buy-in for accessibility in your company, by Timothy Whalin. (2018 April 17.) UX Collective. Whalin, a UX designer at Amazon, explains how we can build accessible experiences even when receiving pushback.
other BA related websites, not vetted yet
https://www.3playmedia.com/2016/06/13/the-4-key-players-on-a-corporate-web-accessibility-team/