Accessible Design in Detroit
Professional accessible design services for Detroit businesses. Strategy, execution, and results.
Our Accessible Design Work in Detroit
- WCAG 2.2 AA compliant design systems for Detroit automotive suppliers building digital storefronts and dealer portals, establishing accessibility as a foundation before the codebase grows
- Accessible patient portal interfaces for Detroit healthcare organizations including Henry Ford Health, Detroit Medical Center, and federally qualified health centers serving underserved communities in Wayne County
- Screen reader-optimized websites for Detroit nonprofits, including workforce development organizations in Midtown and community development corporations across the city
- Keyboard-navigable web applications for manufacturing companies building operational tools, with design optimized for users in industrial environments on mobile and shared devices
- Accessibility audits and remediation for Detroit businesses whose legacy sites were built without modern accessibility standards, including prioritized remediation plans that reduce legal exposure quickly
- Accessible e-commerce experiences for Detroit retailers and small businesses along the city's commercial corridors, from Eastern Market to the growing Detroit Economic Growth Corporation business districts
- Design documentation and developer guidelines for Detroit tech companies building internal accessibility capability into their engineering and design processes
- Color contrast and typography systems built for readability across all device types and lighting conditions, with extended testing for mobile devices common in industrial and field environments
- Section 508 compliance documentation for Detroit automotive suppliers and manufacturers bidding on federal contracts or OEM projects with contractual accessibility requirements
- Multilingual accessible design for Detroit businesses serving Spanish-speaking Southwest Detroit communities, Arabic-speaking Dearborn communities, and other language groups
Industries We Serve in Detroit
Automotive. Ford, GM, Stellantis, and the hundreds of Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers that make up the Metro Detroit ecosystem need accessible supplier portals, dealer management tools, and customer-facing websites. Federal contractor requirements push Section 508 compliance for many automotive companies. OEM contractual requirements increasingly mandate accessibility for supplier digital tools. And practically speaking, dealer portals and B2B platforms used by workers across multiple contexts, including on the shop floor on mobile devices, benefit from the same keyboard navigation and clear focus management that accessibility standards require.
Healthcare. Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Medical Center, McLaren Health Care, and the network of community health centers serving Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties need accessible patient tools, scheduling systems, and health information sites. The patient populations served by these organizations include high rates of disability, making accessible digital tools a genuine care quality issue. Section 1557 of the ACA applies to any healthcare organization receiving federal financial assistance, which covers virtually every hospital and physician practice in the Detroit market.
Manufacturing. Detroit's precision manufacturing, metal fabrication, and assembly operations are building digital tools at a rapid pace, from operational dashboards to supplier management portals to quality documentation systems. Federal contractor requirements and general ADA exposure both apply. Practically, workers in manufacturing environments using shared tablets or workstation terminals benefit from accessibility features designed for keyboard navigation and high contrast.
Real Estate and Development. Detroit's downtown and neighborhood development boom is creating many new websites and platforms for properties and developments that need to be accessible to prospective tenants, buyers, and community members. The Fair Housing Act's application to digital platforms means property listing sites cannot exclude users with disabilities.
Education. Wayne State University, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Lawrence Technological University, and Detroit's K-12 system need accessible digital platforms for students, parents, and staff. Federal Section 504 requirements apply to educational institutions receiving federal funding, and the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights enforces digital accessibility standards actively.
Nonprofits and Social Services. Detroit's robust social services community, including the Detroit-Wayne Integrated Health Network, community development organizations, and neighborhood associations throughout the city, serves populations with high rates of disability and dependence on accessible digital tools. These organizations need accessible platforms to fulfill their missions effectively.
Tech Startups. Companies at TechTown and across Detroit's emerging tech scene are building the next generation of digital products. Starting with accessibility built in is the professional standard and protects against costly remediation as the product grows. Startups that demonstrate accessible products also open access to enterprise and government markets that require documented accessibility conformance.
Government. City of Detroit departments, Wayne County agencies, and regional planning organizations need compliant digital tools under both ADA and state accessibility requirements. Vendor accessibility requirements apply to any company serving government clients.
What to Expect
Discovery. We review your existing digital presence, design files, and technical architecture. For audit projects, we run automated scanning tools and begin documenting the scope of manual testing within the first week. For new builds, we review your brand standards, component library, and target user contexts, including any specific industrial or mobile environments where your users will interact with the product. We give you an honest assessment of where you stand before any work begins.
Strategy. We deliver a prioritized plan that separates critical accessibility barriers from moderate and minor issues. For Detroit companies with legacy systems or complex B2B platforms, we sequence the work to reduce the highest-priority legal and functional barriers first. We provide a timeline, a budget estimate, and clear milestones. For companies with federal contractor requirements, we build Section 508 documentation into the plan from the start.
Implementation. We fix accessibility at the code level. ARIA implementation, semantic HTML, keyboard navigation, focus management, and color contrast corrections are all made in the actual codebase. We do not use overlay tools, which have been shown by independent research to fail for screen reader users and provide no legal protection. We test with NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver across browsers and document every change.
Validation and Handoff. After implementation, we run a comprehensive post-remediation audit to confirm all issues are resolved. We deliver an updated accessibility statement, VPAT documentation if needed for government or enterprise sales, and training materials for your content and development teams. We offer ongoing monitoring to catch regressions and quarterly check-ins for sites that evolve frequently.
Detroit Deserves Digital Experiences Built for Everyone
This city is coming back stronger, and the digital products being built here should reflect that commitment to every person in Detroit. Running Start Digital is ready to build accessible, high-performance digital experiences for your organization. Let's talk about your project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Michigan does not have a separate state digital accessibility law for commercial websites, but federal ADA requirements apply to all businesses open to the public, and courts in the Sixth Circuit have been active on this issue. Businesses contracting with Michigan state or federal government agencies face additional Section 508 requirements. Healthcare organizations must meet federal health IT accessibility standards under Section 1557 of the ACA. Automotive suppliers often have contractual accessibility requirements from OEM customers. We stay current on all of these requirements and factor them into every Detroit engagement.
The automotive industry is undergoing a major digital transformation, and supplier portals, dealer management systems, connected vehicle platforms, and customer-facing tools are increasingly web-based. Many of these systems are used by workers in manufacturing environments, on mobile devices, and in conditions where accessibility features like high contrast mode and keyboard navigation matter practically, not just legally. Federal contractor requirements also push Section 508 compliance for many automotive companies with government contracts. Companies building digital products as part of their EV and software-defined vehicle strategy need accessibility built in from the start.
Accessibility overlay plugins claim to fix accessibility issues by injecting JavaScript on top of your existing site. Independent research and accessibility community testing have repeatedly shown that overlays do not reliably fix accessibility problems and can actually make things worse for screen reader users by creating conflicting ARIA attributes and unpredictable keyboard behavior. Courts have ruled against defendants who used overlays while underlying code remained inaccessible. Real accessible design means fixing the actual HTML structure, ARIA implementation, keyboard event handling, and focus management in your codebase. That is what Running Start Digital delivers.
A new website designed with accessibility from the start takes the same time as a standard build because we integrate requirements into the design and development process. An accessibility audit for an existing site typically takes one to two weeks. Remediation depends on what is found. Small business sites might take two to four weeks. Larger enterprise platforms with complex applications can take eight to sixteen weeks. We prioritize the most legally risky and functionally impactful issues first so your exposure decreases as we work, even before the full remediation is complete.
Yes. We offer training sessions for design teams, developers, and content teams. Topics include WCAG fundamentals, how to use screen readers for testing, accessible component patterns for common UI elements, and how to write accessible content including proper alt text, descriptive link text, and accessible document formats. Companies at TechTown and established Detroit manufacturers have both used our training to build sustainable internal capability that does not require perpetual outside consulting.
Legacy content, especially PDFs, older videos without captions, and image-heavy archives, is one of the most common challenges we see. We help you develop a content remediation plan that prioritizes the most-accessed content, establishes standards for all new content going forward, and creates a realistic timeline for addressing the backlog. Automated caption generation and image alt-text tools can help with scale, but always need human review for accuracy. You do not have to fix everything at once to make meaningful progress and reduce your legal exposure.