Everyone means everyone: Okta's ongoing path to accessibility

Updated: July 10, 2025

A key pillar at Okta is building a world where anyone can safely use any technology. But some of us face analog blockers. We’d like to dig into how Okta is taking steps to make sure everyone really means everyone.

How do we define accessibility? From a technical design perspective, accessibility is designing our products so that everyone can use them equally. Ideally, this means everyone uses the same interface to get the same information. If that’s not possible, we try to provide multiple ways to access the same resource. Accessibility means all users can access the same information and complete the same tasks.

Accessibility by design

One of our core commitments is striving to ensure everyone can access the information they need. While accessibility is a continuous journey, our investment in the Odyssey design system — launched in February 2021 — is a powerful leap forward. This open-source system makes accessibility by design a reality, building inclusive features directly into our UI components from the ground up. 

By adhering to the latest WCAG 2.2 Level AA and incorporating crucial A11Y features like enhanced color contrast, thoughtful shapes, and seamless screen reader integration, Odyssey empowers us to deliver consistent, accessible user experiences across all Okta products.

Meeting government regulations and beyond to minimize decades of work 

When it comes to guidelines, we’d be remiss not to look to arguably the largest service provider — the government. For example, in the US, if one person remediated just 10 documents per day, it would take more than 5,400 years to fully fix the backlog of Federal Agency PDFs. Such a massive backlog directly impacts identity-related processes, as critical information required for user authentication, access management, and policy adherence often resides within these inaccessible documents, creating significant friction for users and administrators alike. This type of friction can occur in systems globally. 

To help meet our goals for inclusive and accessible design, to every extent possible, Okta follows the best practices found in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, (through the latest WCAG guidelines). Specifics include solving for poor internet service, literal access to Okta’s website, and allowances for the hearing or visually impaired.

Okta works with an external vendor to evaluate the vast majority of our end-user products against the latest industry standards for accessibility, like WCAG 2.2 level AA, and document findings in accordance with the latest Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) version 2.5. You can access our Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs) at okta.com/accessibility.

Organizations often view digital accessibility as a compliance exercise, but it’s much more important than that. Digital accessibility is now a critical imperative for governments and organizations worldwide, defining good digital delivery and significantly contributing to positive customer experiences. Here’s a snapshot of the latest global accessibility developments concerning legal and voluntary standards:

• US Federal government websites: According to recent data, a significant challenge remains: Only 29% of US Federal government websites currently operate without key detectable accessibility violations.
• EN 301 549 standard's global reach: The European EN 301 549 standard, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 (and will soon include WCAG 2.2), is gaining significant international traction beyond the EU. Notably, countries like Australia and Canada have adopted it as a national standard, highlighting a global movement towards harmonized, comprehensive ICT accessibility.

When it comes to accessibility, focusing on human-centered design is paramount, even as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) rapidly become pivotal players in the field. These technologies offer groundbreaking solutions, but must be applied thoughtfully, as in the examples below:

• Swindon Borough Council in the UK leverages generative AI to convert complex government documents into accessible formats, drastically reducing conversion costs from hundreds of dollars to mere pennies per page.
• The US General Services Administration is exploring AI tools to convert high volumes of PDF documents to accessible formats, provide enhanced captioning and transcription services, and translate jargon into plain language, all with the aim of enhancing public access to information.

We consider what issues users will encounter beyond basic accessibility requirements.

Our culture

We recognize that continuous improvement is paramount. And the only way we can improve is through an active feedback loop between our customers and Product team. Like any other product issue, when an Okta customer finds an accessibility-related issue, they can contact their admin, who can open a service ticket. This ticket flows directly to our Engineering teams, where it's prioritized accordingly.

But our focus is not only on product accessibility — Okta culture is just as important. For example, we proudly host an official employee resource group focused on neurodiversity to ensure that we consider accessibility internally and externally. Our Disability Affinity Network provides allyship, education, and community for those impacted by visible and invisible disabilities and their allies. In 2024, Neurodiversity@Okta provided leadership development and coaching opportunities for the neurodivergent community and engaged leadership at all levels.

Our accessibility roadmap

Most forward-thinking technology companies maintain a roadmap. As a strategic tool, it helps organizations and teams turn upcoming goals and aspirations into concrete steps and milestones. The biggest and brightest of them even maintain public roadmaps, exposing those hopes with the clear understanding that they may fail. 

Just as we display our critical features on our public roadmap, our accessibility goals are public and on par with our feature aspirations. We’re excited to share that our latest ACRs are available, detailing an accessibility evaluation of the following end-user Okta Platform products, including newly assessed Okta Identity Governance accessibility features:

Sign-in Widget (Gen 3): A Javascript widget that provides a fully featured and customizable login experience that can be used to authenticate and register users in web and mobile applications 

End User Dashboard: Provides users quick access to applications they need to do their job. From the dashboard, users can search for, request access to, and launch apps, manage their Okta account, and read notifications from their administrator.

End User Settings (version 2.0): Enables users to manage various settings for their Okta profile and sessions. This includes changing their personal information, display language, and password. They can also set up additional authenticators and view their recent activity. 

Access Request Inbox app: This app enables users to see requests they have submitted or need to take action on. This is included in Okta Identity Governance.

Access Certifications Reviewer app: This provides users who have been assigned reviews in an Access Certification with access to review and make decisions. It’s included in Okta Identity Governance.

So, what does "everyone" mean? For Okta, it means everyone: customers, partners, employees, and competitors.

Building accessible experiences requires intentional design and a foundation of trust. Learn how Okta is approaching accessibility as part of our broader commitment to building for trust through access, helping ensure that identity solutions serve everyone, in government and beyond. You can also explore how our unified design approach creates consistent, accessible experiences across all Okta products.