From Compliance to Experience: The New Accessibility Mandate for 2026

Part 3: The Impact — AI, Search & the Future of Accessibility

Available now: See how accessibility influences AI search and digital visibility.

AI-powered search and answer engines are reshaping digital discovery. This session connects accessibility improvements to authority, structure, and AI-driven visibility.

What You’ll Learn

AI vs. Traditional Search Models
How AI systems interpret prompts, retrieve structured content, and synthesize recommendations.
From Rankings to Recommendations
Why visibility now depends on authority, trust signals, and semantic clarity.
Accessibility as Discoverability Infrastructure
How accessible structure supports both human usability and AI ingestion.
Designing for AI Interpretation
How headings, alt text, semantic markup, and content hierarchy influence AI outputs.
Measuring AI-Influenced Visibility
How organizations can evaluate performance in an AI-first discovery model.

Continue the Series

Speakers

Matthew Bebenek

Director, Global Presales, Solutions & Value Engineering, Siteimprove

Matthew Bebenek brings more than a decade of experience in software solutions consulting and digital strategy. As Global Director for Solutions Engineering at Siteimprove, he works with organizations to improve digital performance, accessibility maturity, and content quality at scale.

He focuses on helping teams operationalize data, align governance with strategy, and accelerate meaningful digital experience improvements.

Gina Bhawalkar Principal Analyst at Forrester.

Gina Calcaterra Bhawalkar

Principal Analyst, Digital Accessibility & Design, Forrester

Gina leads Forrester’s research on digital accessibility and inclusive experience design. She advises organizations on how to establish and scale sustainable accessibility practices and is a recognized expert in the digital accessibility platform (DAP) market. Her research has been featured in major publications, including The Wall Street Journal, and she is a frequent speaker on accessibility, inclusive design, and experience strategy.

With more than 20 years of UX and CX leadership experience, Gina brings deep expertise in accessibility governance, design systems, personas, and measuring the business impact of digital experience improvements.