A11Ycode did not start from a desire to create one more tool. It started from a recurring problem: many people still have to explain their needs repeatedly, while many institutions struggle to make visible what they already know how to adapt.
The project therefore grew through a progressive shift: first expressing needs better, then making accommodations more visible, and finally linking both sides in a simple system.
Express. Publish. Review.
Create a code, make accommodations visible, then help professionals review information that is already organised.
The project starts from a simple question: how can a person express needs in a more confidential, concise and reusable way?
The A11Y prototype was first imagined as a personal code built from categories of needs. The goal was to ease communication while avoiding unnecessary personal data and keeping an evolutive logic.
A second fact became clear very quickly: a personal code is only useful if it meets a readable offer on the institution side.
The project therefore moved beyond individual expression and added a second side: describing accommodations already in place or reasonably possible inside an institution.
The .a11y file is not a technical detail. It is the stable memory of the system. It structures accommodations, keeps them readable, shareable and editable over time.
Without that base, accommodations often remain scattered, implicit or too dependent on the people currently in the team.
It is not enough to document accommodations: people also need to consult them easily, on a phone, through a web page or a QR code.
This wide accessibility is one of the strengths of the concept: the tool can be used without requiring an app installation.
Work around the Ici TSA label and the partnership with La Source reinforce this logic.
They show that such a system can clarify an offer, value institutions that commit to it and support continuous improvement rather than a simple declaration of intent.
A11Ycode does not start from a diagnosis or a purely administrative logic. It starts from needs, accommodations and real use.
That orientation helps avoid a tool that is too theoretical: start from concrete practice, then build a broader structure.
Today, the project is organised around two spaces: a user space, to create a code and use files, and a professional space, to create, publish and review.
This structure follows the real path of the project: start from the person, then build the link with institutions and professionals.
a11y is a short form of the English word accessibility. The idea is simple: keep the first letter, a, replace the middle letters by their number, then keep the last letter, y. Because there are 11 letters between a and y, it becomes a11y.
Even though it is written A11Y, it is generally pronounced “ally”.
In digital contexts, this shortcut is already widely used to talk about accessibility. The name A11Ycode therefore expresses a simple idea: putting accessibility at the centre of code and design. This intention is central to the project, because the goal is not only to produce a tool, but to make accessibility visible, durable and genuinely usable. The name can also suggest the idea of an ally for accessibility.
