moving elephants

How do organizations operationalize digital accessibility at scale? What does it take to embed inclusive design into product development, design systems, and governance models — especially as AI accelerates innovation?

In this episode of Project Inclusion, we interview Cat Noone, CEO and co-founder of Stark, an accessibility platform helping teams build and maintain compliant, inclusive digital products.

Cat shares her journey from working in special education to leading one of today’s most influential accessibility software companies — offering a systems-level perspective on how “exclusion by design” manifests across technology, organizations, and leadership structures.

Together, we explore:

• Digital accessibility in modern product and design workflows

• How AI is impacting accessibility, compliance, and product velocity

• The role of design systems in scaling inclusive design

• Accessibility governance inside enterprise organizations

• Why accessibility must move beyond audits into implementation

This episode is essential listening for leaders in UX design, product management, engineering, compliance, and digital transformation who want to move accessibility from aspiration to infrastructure — and truly build products that work for everyone.

Project Inclusion: Cat, welcome to Project Inclusion. We’re so excited to have you — we’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself so listeners can get to know you?

Cat Noone: Sure. Thanks for having me — I really appreciate it. A little bit about me… I’m a lot of things, so I’m always trying to figure out where to start when someone asks that question.

By trade, I’m a designer. I’m also a mom. I love baking cookies, drawing, and painting. I love all the arts — singing, really trash TV, but also a really good series or film. I’m a boxer. I love traveling.

So there are many directions we could go. But professionally — the reason I’m here — I’m the CEO of an accessibility software startup called Stark. Stark puts digital accessibility on autopilot for software teams. So when I’m not doing all those personal things that matter to me, I’m spending most of my time building Stark.

Project Inclusion: Tell us your “why.” How did you end up building an accessibility tool?

Cat Noone: Great question. The dots connect if we go backward first.

Before tech, I worked in education — specifically special education in the U.S. I worked for the New York City Department of Education, the Helen Keller School for the Deaf and Blind, and on community initiatives with Autism Speaks.

I worked with kids across a spectrum of disabilities. That was my first real introduction to seeing the waterfall impact of exclusion by design across connected systems.

I grew up in Brooklyn, surrounded by people from all over the world, so conversations about difference weren’t new to me. But seeing systemic exclusion up close — especially at such a young age — was different.

It made me realize how difficult it was for kids and their parents to advocate for resources, healthcare support, or interventions. And intervention can mean many things — educational resources, services, support systems.

That was my first face-to-face experience with how systems are designed to work for — or against — certain groups, and who gets access.

You see the snowball effect: kids move through systems that continually exclude them, and then become adults who can’t access what enables them to contribute fully.

Fast forward — I worked on many projects shaped by those early experiences. And when I connected the dots to Stark, it became clear:

Accessibility used to focus on physical spaces — elevators, curb cuts — and it still does. But now we live in digital spaces too. So what does it look like to give everyone access to the world’s latest innovations?

That’s what led to Stark.

Project Inclusion: What’s an unexpected reaction you’ve gotten in your work that still stays with you?

Cat Noone: We’ve met people from all over the world building Stark. A lot of company building is transactional — but we’ve also had transformational conversations.

One moment that stands out: Michael, my co-founder and CTO, and I were at Adobe’s big annual conference. We had a small booth — we were brand new as a company.

A woman walked up and just stood there staring at our display. Eventually she asked, “Is that how my son sees the world?”

We realized she was looking at our color-blind simulator running on screen.

It’s not meant to replicate lived experience — it’s an empathy-building tool. But it was the first time she could visualize the world through her son’s eyes.

Seeing that personal impact — that “aha” moment — was powerful. It showed us the emotional benefit of what we were building.

Project Inclusion: Having done this for a while, what do you wish more people talked about or acted on?

Cat Noone: Facts.

I think humans struggle to manage our own anxiety, so we project it outward. We let opinions rule before questioning our own beliefs.

I wish more people examined why they believe what they believe — instead of reacting first.

Project Inclusion: What’s helped you set the stage for productive conversations?

Cat Noone: Something I didn’t do well early on as CEO — but I’m improving — is leveling-setting before debating solutions.

People assume CEOs have all the answers. I don’t. I hold context and vision, but my team holds execution expertise.

If I jump to solutions too quickly, people resist. So I try to:

• Validate their perspective

• Align on problem framing

• Share constraints

• Offer a mental model

Then propose direction.

Same in sales. If someone says, “We need WCAG compliance,” I ask:

• Why now?

• What are you optimizing for — enterprise sales, risk reduction, product quality?

Accessibility is a constant — but the framing changes.

When you align on framing first, people see the solution themselves.

Project Inclusion: How has AI changed accessibility?

Cat Noone: AI didn’t create accessibility risk — it poured gasoline on velocity. And velocity exposes broken systems.

What breaks first:

• Review models — “ship then audit” doesn’t scale

• Replication — one bad component becomes 100 instantly

• Ownership — if AI suggests it, who’s accountable?

AI isn’t bad for accessibility. It’s like electricity — powerful, but depends how it’s used.

Accessibility can’t live in consulting layers anymore. It has to live inside implementation:

• Design systems

• Code pipelines

• Governance models

Otherwise you’re compounding problems at machine speed.

Project Inclusion: What insight changed your roadmap?

Cat Noone: We used to hear that companies don’t care about accessibility.

That’s wrong.

We saw effort everywhere — audits, fixes, inclusive teams forming. The issue wasn’t apathy. It was misalignment between intention and infrastructure.

I call it the latent innovation phase:

1. Unaware — accessibility optional

2. Aware but isolated — audits, docs, no systems

3. Latent innovation — effort exists, but no connective infrastructure

Companies get stuck here because operating models haven’t evolved.

So we stopped asking, “How do we run better checks?”
And started asking, “How do we build systems that let elephants move?”

That shifted us from tooling to governance platforms.

Project Inclusion: What will make accessibility show up in earnings reports?

Cat Noone: It already does.

Accessibility is tied to KPIs in many organizations now.

The “peanuts” that move elephants are whatever companies already value:

• Product → speed, user impact

• Legal → risk

• Sales → unlocking RFPs

• Finance → remediation cost

Moral arguments matter — but alone, they stall. Accessibility has to align with business metrics already tracked.

Fear and shame don’t work. Alignment does.

Project Inclusion: What advice has stuck with you?

Cat Noone: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Project Inclusion: Last advice you gave someone?

Cat Noone: Not every thought needs a microphone.

Even the right words at the wrong moment can be destructive. Speaking your truth isn’t the same as speaking your ego.

Project Inclusion: What’s next for you?

Cat Noone: I’m 36 — just getting started.

In my 20s I lived like I was running out of time. Now I’m trying to live in time — be present.

Professionally, I’d love to work with the Obama Foundation someday. Systems design is my thing. Maybe teach more. Personally, I want to reconnect with art — pottery, painting — things that consume you in a good way. Mostly, I want to slow down and take it all in. I never expected this life, and I’m grateful for it.

Project Inclusion: It’s been such a treat talking to you. Where can people connect?

Cat Noone: LinkedIn is best. I also write a newsletter — Thoughts I’ve Brewed Along the Way.