My name is Aaron Gustafson, and I work on the web.
I’ve spent more than 30 years designing, developing, writing, teaching, consulting, and helping teams make better choices about the technology they loose upon the world. Today, I’m a Principal Technical Program Manager in Microsoft Accessibility Engineering. I build benchmarks and evaluation systems, agentic coding tools, and design software that help teams find and fix accessibility issues early.
My team and I measure how well AI systems identify and repair accessibility issues, equip them with reliable tools and context, and weave accessibility into how designers and developers work—not tack it on at the end.
New chapter, same book.
I joined Microsoft in 2015 as a web standards advocate. On the Edge team, I helped shape our Progressive Web App strategy, worked with partners and standards bodies, edited several PWA-related specifications, and created the Web We Want so more designers and developers could have a say in the web’s future.
In 2022, I turned my attention to accessibility innovation. I directed Microsoft’s $25 million AI for Accessibility portfolio, helped teams navigate Responsible AI reviews, and worked with researchers, product teams, and partner organizations to pry good ideas out of slide decks and put them into people’s hands. That work pulled me deeper into speech AI, custom neural voice, accessible design work, and the engineering systems that keep all of it standing.
Long before Microsoft, I built web products for organizations large and small through my consultancy, Easy Designs. I wrote Adaptive Web Design, co-authored the sixth edition of Learning Web Design, contributed to numerous other books, and published dozens of articles. I’ve spoken and taught at events around the world, but I’m happiest when a good conversation produces something people can actually use.
Community has shaped nearly every part of my career. I managed the Web Standards Project, served as Editor in Chief of A List Apart, co-founded PWA Summit and Code & Creativity, and helped run projects that teach, connect, and make room for more voices in our field.
The thread through all of it is simple: technology should meet people where they are. Progressive enhancement taught me to build from that premise. Accessibility made the stakes impossible to ignore. Now I’m trying to carry those lessons into AI while remaining steadfastly focused on the people making software and using it.
I live and work in beautiful Seattle, Washington, with my partner, Kelly McCarthy, and our son, Oscar.
