Designers can live in the visual world of user interface (UI) design without often considering what’s under the hood.

A well-maintained, 10-year-old car will work fine to get you from A to B. A well-maintained bike will probably last even longer than the car. A 45-year-old landline phone can still receive and place calls. But what happens if you try to access a web page using a 3-year-old smartphone? How about a 5 or even a 10-year-old one?

While government websites don’t need to match or outpace commercial websites on design novelty or retention metrics, they should aim to outperform on ensuring users accomplish their goals easily and efficiently.

When people ask what I do for a living, I reply “Web accessibility designer.” I'm proud of that fact; I get the chance to make the web better every working day.