React Native Accessibility Beyond Compliance | Ft. Britta Evans-Fenton | reactCon

Britta Evans-Fenton, Senior Mobile Developer at Shopify and reactCon Program Committee Member, shares her deeply personal journey into React Native accessibility; and why every developer is “pre-disabled.” Host Sriyank Siddhartha explores how teams can move beyond basic compliance toward universal design, why polished animations and accessibility aren’t mutually exclusive, and the surprising way AI is actually making React Native accessibility harder, not easier. With 9 years at Shopify and expertise built from real personal experience, Britta offers some of the most practical and human accessibility insights in the React Native ecosystem. 🔑 What You'll Learn: - Why every developer is “pre-disabled” and what that means for how you build apps - How to move beyond basic EAA compliance toward true universal design in React Native - Why animations and accessibility can coexist—and how to handle reduced motion correctly - What the web-mobile disconnect means for accessibility and the mistakes developers make switching from React to React Native - Why AI-generated React Native code is failing at accessibility and what’s being done to fix it - How to build an accessibility culture on your team and get leadership buy-in 📍 Submit your talk to reactCon at next.app devCon Berlin: https://www.nextappcon.com/ 💬 Is your team treating accessibility as a checkbox or building it into your React Native development process from day one? Share your experience below. 🤖 Follow us for the latest in mobile development: 🐦 Twitter / X: https://x.com/nextappdevcon 📸 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nextapp.devcon 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/next-app-devcon/ ⚡ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro: Meet Britta from Shopify 01:56 - A Personal Story: Being Pre-Disabledand Love for Accessibility 04:37 - Beyond Compliance: What Universal Design Really Means 08:02 - Animations vs. Accessibility: Breaking the Myth 10:40 - Web-Mobile Disconnect: Mistakes Devs Make in React Native 13:35 - Why AI Is Making Accessibility Harder, Not Easier 16:32 - Hardest Lessons: Teaching Teams & Getting Buy-In 21:00 - Britta's CFP's Expectations at reactCon Berlin 23:53 - Would You Rather Rapid Fire-Round 30:48 - Thank You! #ReactNative #Accessibility #UniversalDesign #InclusiveDesign #MobileDev #EAA #ScreenReader #ReducedMotion #Shopify #reactCon #nextappdevcon #DevConBerlin2026