Petri Lahdelma

In my whitepaper/article “The 2026 State of Digital Accessibility and UX Quality Across European Industries,” I look at what actually happens when accessibility readiness is measured across real European websites, not discussed in abstract.

Six months after the European Accessibility Act became enforceable, VertaaUX attempted to audit 198 pages across 53 EU/EEA companies in e-commerce, fintech, healthcare, SaaS/B2B, travel, and the public sector. The results are not… Näytä lisää

In my whitepaper/article “The 2026 State of Digital Accessibility and UX Quality Across European Industries,” I look at what actually happens when accessibility readiness is measured across real European websites, not discussed in abstract.

Six months after the European Accessibility Act became enforceable, VertaaUX attempted to audit 198 pages across 53 EU/EEA companies in e-commerce, fintech, healthcare, SaaS/B2B, travel, and the public sector. The results are not flattering.

88% of audited pages failed basic accessibility thresholds. The average accessibility score was just 15 out of 100. At the same time, clarity scores were consistently high, which points to the real problem: many teams know how to communicate, sell, and structure information, but accessibility still breaks at the implementation layer.

The article also highlights a strange compliance paradox: 22% of target sites blocked automated auditing tools entirely. In other words, some companies are blocking the very tools their own teams, auditors, and regulators may need to verify accessibility.

This piece is especially relevant for product leaders, design teams, engineers, accessibility specialists, compliance teams, and anyone building digital services for the European market.

The uncomfortable takeaway: Europe does not have a design quality problem. It has an accessibility execution problem. Näytä vähemmän

In my article “The European Accessibility Act Is the New GDPR — And You’re Already Late,” I explore why accessibility can no longer be treated as a nice-to-have, a design preference, or a backlog item for later.

The European Accessibility Act is now enforceable, and the pattern looks familiar: companies ignored the grace period, leadership underestimated the scope, and now enforcement is starting to move faster than most product teams are ready for.

I argue that EAA compliance is… Näytä lisää

In my article “The European Accessibility Act Is the New GDPR — And You’re Already Late,” I explore why accessibility can no longer be treated as a nice-to-have, a design preference, or a backlog item for later.

The European Accessibility Act is now enforceable, and the pattern looks familiar: companies ignored the grace period, leadership underestimated the scope, and now enforcement is starting to move faster than most product teams are ready for.

I argue that EAA compliance is not just a legal issue. It is a product quality issue, a customer access issue, and increasingly, a business continuity issue. If your digital products serve EU customers, accessibility gaps can now become fines, remediation orders, reputational damage, or even market access problems.

The article breaks down the risks in plain language, then gets practical with common violations hiding in real codebases: inaccessible cookie banners, missing form labels, weak contrast, broken SPA focus management, missing skip links, un-labeled icons, and keyboard traps.

This piece is especially relevant for product leaders, founders, designers, engineers, and compliance teams working on digital products in or around the EU.

Accessibility is no longer something you “get to later.” Later is already here. Näytä vähemmän

In my article “From Tokens to Thinking Systems: Making AI-Native Design Systems Actually Work,” I explore what it really means to build design systems for AI, not just for humans.

The core argument is simple: tokens, schemas, and generative rules are not enough unless they become explicit, machine-readable contracts. LLMs do not reliably infer intent from documentation, Figma files, or good design principles. They need constraints, responsibilities, accessibility rules, interaction… Näytä lisää

In my article “From Tokens to Thinking Systems: Making AI-Native Design Systems Actually Work,” I explore what it really means to build design systems for AI, not just for humans.

The core argument is simple: tokens, schemas, and generative rules are not enough unless they become explicit, machine-readable contracts. LLMs do not reliably infer intent from documentation, Figma files, or good design principles. They need constraints, responsibilities, accessibility rules, interaction logic, and predictable output shapes.

I argue that AI-native design systems must evolve from component libraries into generation systems. The designer’s role does not disappear. It moves up a level. We define intent, encode judgment, shape constraints, and design the logic that AI can safely execute.

This piece is especially relevant for anyone working with design systems, tokens, AI-assisted UI generation, accessibility, or design operations.

Build systems, not screens. But make them precise enough that AI cannot misunderstand them. Näytä vähemmän

In my article “Stop Solving Problems and Start Raising Better Questions,” I explore how design can shift from simply delivering solutions to asking powerful, future-shaping questions. I argue that in a world driven by AI and complexity, our true value lies in expanding the “cone of possibilities” — not just optimizing for today. This piece is especially relevant for anyone working in design strategy, systems, or operations. Instead of aiming for the perfect answer, maybe the best outcome is the… Näytä lisää

In my article “Stop Solving Problems and Start Raising Better Questions,” I explore how design can shift from simply delivering solutions to asking powerful, future-shaping questions. I argue that in a world driven by AI and complexity, our true value lies in expanding the “cone of possibilities” — not just optimizing for today. This piece is especially relevant for anyone working in design strategy, systems, or operations. Instead of aiming for the perfect answer, maybe the best outcome is the question no one dared to ask. Näytä vähemmän

In my article “Why I’m Excited About Joint Futures 2019,” I share five reasons I’m looking forward to the design conference in Helsinki. The event explores how design systems, operations, and strategy come together to create meaningful impact. It’s a must-read for anyone scaling design teams or aligning design with business and human-centered outcomes. A great reminder of how vibrant and forward-thinking the Finnish design community is.

An exploratory article about current advances in tech from the Design point of view.