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| The "Zabardasti AI" Mandate: A Cartoon on Corporate Techno-Ableism and Inaccessibility |
Across the technology sector, organisations are beginning to mandate the use of AI coding tools. The argument is simple: AI increases productivity, accelerates software development, and allows companies to do more with fewer people. But something important is missing from this conversation. Most AI coding systems generate software that focuses on functionality and speed. Accessibility rarely appears in the default output. As a result, developers often receive machine-generated code that works visually but fails for screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other assistive technologies.
Over the last two decades, accessibility advocates have worked hard to teach developers that inclusive design must be built into software from the start. However, when AI tools become mandatory and productivity metrics dominate development workflows, accessibility risks being pushed to the margins again. This raises a deeper question: Are AI mandates quietly spreading technoableism within digital infrastructure?
If accessibility is not integrated into AI coding systems themselves, organisations may unknowingly scale exclusion across the web. In the full article, I respond to a recent discussion on forced AI adoption and examine why accessibility must be part of the AI development pipeline itself.
