Akhilesh Malani

Blind. Determined. Building an accessible world — one product at a time.

Blind accessibility architect with 16+ years of lived experience navigating the digital world using only a screen reader and keyboard — every single day. Not just compliant. Actually usable. That's what 16 years without sight teaches you.

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About Me

Akhilesh Malani wearing a dark charcoal suit, white dress shirt and grey patterned tie, standing against a white background. He has dark hair and wears thin-framed glasses.

My career did not begin in accessibility. In 2009, I started in technical support — capable work, but not where I was meant to be. After 18 months, I made a deliberate decision: I quit, took four months without income, and taught myself accessibility testing from the ground up. That bet on myself became my entire career.

My first accessibility role was at Prakat Solutions, where I built my foundations in the craft and served Oracle Financial Services. From there, I spent a decade working on Google's products — 5.5 years through HCL Tech, then a further 4.5 years through Tech Mahindra, continuing the same client engagement. Working at that scale meant accessibility was never a checkbox; it was a precision discipline.

Today I work in financial services, one of the most regulated sectors for digital inclusion. I have served Dun & Bradstreet and currently work with Bank of Montreal.

Through all of it, one thing has stayed constant: I don't simulate disability to understand what users need. I lost my sight at 12. That perspective isn't something I learned — it's the lens I have always worked through.

Want to know more? Connect with me on LinkedIn (opens in new tab).

The Cost of Getting Accessibility Wrong

30 times more expensive to fix accessibility defects in production than catching them in design.

70 percent of real accessibility issues are missed by automated scanning tools alone.

1 in 6 people worldwide live with a significant disability. That's over a billion potential users.

96 percent of the top one million websites have detectable WCAG failures on their home page.

Most organisations don't realise they have a problem until a lawsuit, a failed audit, or a user complaint forces them to act. Understanding the real cost is the first step to changing that.

My Expertise

Accessibility Auditing

I test websites, mobile apps, and documents with real assistive technology — JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver — not just automated scanners. I find the failures that tools miss because I experience them first-hand, every day.

Strategy & Compliance

I work with teams to map out which WCAG failures carry the most risk — legal, reputational, and human — and build a remediation plan their engineers can actually execute. Not a report that collects dust.

Training & Mentorship

I run sessions where developers navigate their own product with NVDA turned on — often for the first time. That moment changes how they code. I've seen it happen across 12 teams at a global technology organisation.

Standards & Regulation

I know WCAG 2.2, Section 508, ADA, EN 301 549, and India's RPwD Act and GIGW 3.0 in depth — and I stay current on the SEBI accessibility mandate. Standards are only useful when someone can translate them into real fixes.

How I Approach Accessibility

The methodology behind every accessibility engagement I've been part of across my career.

Understand

Before I test a single element, I ask the question nobody else asks: who is this product shutting out right now? Understanding the user base, the tech stack, and what the business actually cares about shapes everything that follows.

Evaluate

I navigate the product with JAWS and NVDA — the same way I navigate every website I use personally. This is how I catch the failures that no automated scanner will ever flag: focus traps, silent form errors, unlabelled icons that look fine on screen.

Prioritise

Not every WCAG failure carries the same risk. I produce a prioritised report that separates what will get you sued from what will irritate a power user — with fix guidance written for the developer reading it at 9am on a Monday.

Enable

I'd rather make myself unnecessary than indispensable. I spend time with the engineers and designers so they understand the why — not just the fix list. That's what stops the same failures appearing in the next sprint.

The Journey

A brief overview of my professional path.

Accessibility Architect

– Present

Accessibility strategy and architecture for Bank of Montreal and Dun & Bradstreet — two of the most regulated sectors for digital inclusion. Leading compliance efforts across web, mobile, and document platforms.

Accessibility Lead & SME

–

A decade on Google's product accessibility — 5.5 years through HCL Tech, then 4.5 years through Tech Mahindra on the same client engagement. Led accessibility teams at scale, where the work had to be precise and defensible. ACE Award 2023 for delivery on a global accessibility programme.

Accessibility Tester

–

Evaluated accessibility across 250+ websites, applications, and documents at Prakat Solutions, serving Oracle Financial Services. This is where I taught myself the craft — and where I learned that lived experience and technical rigour are not in conflict.

Areas of Expertise

Standards & Compliance

  • WCAG 2.0 / 2.1 / 2.2
  • WAI-ARIA
  • PDF/UA
  • Section 508
  • ADA
  • EN 301 549

India Regulatory

  • RPwD Act 2016
  • GIGW 3.0
  • SEBI Mandate

Assistive Technology

  • JAWS
  • NVDA
  • VoiceOver
  • TalkBack

What I Bring

  • Accessibility Strategy
  • Shift-Left Implementation
  • Team Training
  • Stakeholder Advisory

Standards & Frameworks

  • WCAG 2.2
  • Section 508
  • ADA
  • EN 301 549
  • WAI-ARIA
  • PDF/UA
  • RPwD Act 2016
  • GIGW 3.0
  • SEBI Mandate

Recognition

  • ACE Award 2023 — Highest performance recognition at Tech Mahindra for delivery on a global accessibility programme.
  • Youngest Web Researcher, WWW2011 — Recognised at the World Wide Web Conference.
  • Speaker, NASSCOM BPO Summit 2010 — Spoke on accessibility and digital inclusion.

Insights & Thought Leadership

Perspectives you won't find in textbooks — because they come from living it.

India's SEBI Mandate: Are You Ready?

The deadline is approaching and most organisations aren't prepared. I break down what the circular actually requires — and what happens if you ignore it.

Read more: India's SEBI Mandate — Are You Ready?

You're Spending 30x More Than You Need To

Every accessibility defect fixed in production could have been caught in design for a fraction of the cost. I've seen the numbers — and helped organisations change them.

Read more: You're Spending 30x More Than You Need To

Why a Blind Accessibility Architect?

Most accessibility professionals simulate disability to understand it. I live it.

I navigate the digital world the same way a billion people with disabilities do — with a screen reader and a keyboard. Every single day. That means when I evaluate a product, I'm not running through a checklist. I'm experiencing it.

Last year I caught a focus trap buried four levels deep in a financial services modal — a bug that would have locked a blind user out of completing a transaction entirely. The automated scanner gave it a clean pass. A sighted tester missed it. I caught it because I was actually trying to complete the task.

That's 16 years of lived experience. You can't get it from a certification course.

Professional Impact

Key outcomes from my career in accessibility across banking, technology, and financial services.

Banking

Reduced accessibility defects by 73%

Led end-to-end accessibility evaluation across web and mobile banking platforms. Delivered a prioritised remediation roadmap that the engineering team executed across two release cycles.

0% fewer critical defects after remediation
Technology

Enabled 12 product teams to ship accessible code

Designed and delivered a hands-on accessibility training programme across a global technology organisation. Upskilled developers, designers, and QA engineers on WCAG 2.2 and real-world assistive technology testing.

0 teams trained and independently auditing

Invite Me to Speak

I've spoken at WWW2011 and the NASSCOM BPO Summit. The talk that gets the most response is always the same one: what it's actually like to try and use a banking app when you can't see the screen.

Keynotes & Talks

My signature talk: What Happens When a Blind User Tries Your Product — a live walkthrough that shows audiences exactly what their users experience, and why it matters beyond compliance.

Workshops & Training

Hands-on sessions where your developers, designers, and QA engineers navigate your own product with a screen reader — then learn how to fix what they find.

Webinars & Panels

Remote sessions on WCAG compliance, India's SEBI and RPwD mandates, assistive technology, and what a real accessibility audit looks like in practice.

Corporate & Academic

Guest lectures and awareness sessions for teams who have never done accessibility before — and want to understand why it matters before they start.

Want me to speak at your event or run a session for your team? Reach out on LinkedIn.

Reach Out on LinkedIn (opens in new tab)

Try My Free Accessibility Checker

Paste any HTML and get instant WCAG 2.2 compliance results — with issue categorisation, severity ratings, and actionable fix guidance. No sign-up required.

Launch the Checker
WCAG 2.2 Level AA validation
Critical, Serious, Moderate & Minor ratings
Export reports as HTML, JSON, or CSV
100% free, no account needed

Presented & Recognised At

  • WWW 2011 (World Wide Web Conference)
  • NASSCOM BPO Summit 2010
  • ACE Award 2023, Tech Mahindra

Frequently Asked Questions

How did you get into accessibility?

I lost my sight at age 12. From that point, I experienced first-hand how much of the digital world is built without people like me in mind. That frustration became a career. I turned lived experience into professional expertise — and now I spend every day making sure others don't face the same barriers I did.

What is AMASAMYA?

AMASAMYA is my personal open-source accessibility testing tool — built in my own time, driven by one belief: accessibility knowledge shouldn't cost money. You paste HTML, it runs 13 audit engines against WCAG 2.2 and gives you a prioritised report with severity ratings and fix guidance. No login. No subscription. Try the checker on this site or view the source on GitHub (opens in new tab).

Which accessibility standards do you specialise in?

My expertise spans WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 (Levels A, AA, and AAA), Section 508, ADA, EN 301 549, and India-specific regulations including the RPwD Act 2016 and GIGW 3.0. I also work with WAI-ARIA, PDF/UA, and mobile accessibility guidelines. I have solid knowledge of the SEBI accessibility mandate and stay current with its requirements, though my direct project experience is in WCAG, RPwD, and GIGW.

What assistive technology do you use daily?

I use NVDA and JAWS as my primary screen readers, with keyboard-only navigation for everything. I also regularly test with VoiceOver on iOS and macOS, TalkBack on Android, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking for voice input. This isn't a testing setup — it's how I live.

What does a typical accessibility audit involve?

A thorough audit involves manual testing with real assistive technology, automated scanning (as a starting point, not an endpoint), keyboard-only navigation testing, colour contrast checks, cognitive load assessment, and evaluation against the relevant WCAG success criteria. The output is a prioritised report with severity ratings and developer-ready fix guidance.

How can I connect or collaborate with you?

LinkedIn is the best way to reach me — connect with me there (opens in new tab). I'm always happy to talk accessibility, share knowledge, or discuss speaking opportunities. For everything else, use the contact form on this page.

Let's Connect

Want to discuss accessibility, share ideas, or just say hello? I'd love to hear from you.

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
akhilesh.malani@gmail.com
LinkedIn Profile (opens in new tab)