Advancing digital accessibility at MassMutualBuilding inclusive, compliant, and future-ready digital experiences
Overview
To truly live its mission of helping people secure their future and protect the ones they love, MassMutual needed its digital ecosystem to work for everyone, customers, advisors, and employees of all abilities. Over the last three years, digital accessibility has shifted from a compliance topic to a core design and business priority.
Timeline
Multi-year initiative (3+ years)
Role
Design Director, Digital Accessibility Lead
Led the cross-functional accessibility initiative from workshop to enterprise strategy
Defined the accessibility vision, roadmap, and governance model
Embedded accessibility into UX, design systems, and core processes
Partnered with HR, legal, technology, and business leaders to mature practice
Active leader in MassMutual’s ADAPT BRG and Disability:IN Accessibility Leadership Committee
Challenge
MassMutual’s legacy digital experiences were not consistently accessible, creating:
Risk of exclusion for millions of current and potential users, 26% of adults live with a disability, and over 70% of websites remain inaccessible.
Friction at critical moments: Older customers (average dashboard user age ~67), advisors (many 50+), and people experiencing temporary disabilities were struggling with core journeys.
Hidden operational costs: 23% of users attempted self-service before calling, meaning every inaccessible or confusing flow directly increased call volume, handle time, and support burden.
Beneath that, three deeper challenges emerged:
Legacy systems → modern standards: Critical experiences were built on older platforms that didn’t support semantic structure, responsive behaviors, or assistive technologies out of the box. Retrofitting accessibility meant rethinking patterns, not just adding quick fixes.
Change management at scale: Teams across design, engineering, product, and content had different levels of awareness and maturity. We needed to move from “accessibility as an afterthought” to “accessibility as a non‑negotiable requirement” without slowing delivery.
Culture shift, not just checklists: Accessibility was often seen as a compliance checkbox or “extra work.” The real challenge was
Virtual Workshop
In their words
“Stephanie has been instrumental in advancing MassMutual’s digital accessibility and disability inclusion journey. She designed and delivered a powerful visual narrative for our Seramount National Disability Employment Awareness Month event, helping us tell the story of ‘Empowering Change From Grassroots to Impact’ to hundreds of external attendees. Her engagement and leadership also helped us show up extremely well at the Disability:IN conference, where her thoughtful contributions created a space with accessibility, equity, and respect at the forefront.
Thanks to Stephanie, we were able to clearly demonstrate how we’re breaking down barriers, amplifying diverse voices, and building a culture where everyone—regardless of ability—can thrive.”
