Introducing the ENABLE Model
What if the story of accessibility isn't about disability, but about neglect?
When accessibility fails, it's easy to assume something went wrong at the technical level: a missing label, a broken shortcut, a screen reader incompatibility. But the deeper truth is simpler -- and harder. Accessibility fails when care fails.
The ENABLE model begins from that premise. It stands for:
Early Neglect Allows Barriers Limiting Equity.
and
End-Users Navigate Assymetric Barriers Laboring Excessively.
At its heart, ENABLE maps a dual system:
- Pre-launch interventions: What builders (developers, designers, institutions) can do before a product or system reaches the public.
- Post-launch compensations: What end-users are forced to do after the fact, when accessibility was an afterthought.
When builders care early, barriers are prevented.
When they neglect, users must navigate those barriers on their own.
And so ENABLE tracks both acts of care and patterns of burden.
It is not just a framework. It's a story many disabled people already live.
Why this matters
We've all heard about “shifting left” in software. ENABLE extends that thinking -- across disciplines, across technologies, and across time. It connects:
- accessibility audits to systemic bias,
- speech interfaces to disability justice,
- AI inclusion to participatory design.
ENABLE doesn't reinvent accessibility -- it organizes it, with clarity and urgency. And yes, it's general enough to encompass not just websites and apps, but services, policies, and AI systems.
What's next
This blog will break it all down:
- The seven pre-launch interventions and how AI is being used in each.
- The eight categories of post-launch compensations -- from installing browser extensions to relying on other humans.
- Real-world stories. Real burdens. Real possibilities.
This is a living model. A shared language. And hopefully, a rallying cry.
Let's explore what accessibility looks like when it's everyone's responsibility -- upstream.