Pluspunten
When you tell your family and friends you work for a digital accessibility company, they look at you with admiration as if you are doing something noble.
Minpunten
Level Access is starting to feel like the Blockbuster of the accessibility industry, once a clear leader with strong market positioning, now rapidly becoming a case study in how poor leadership decisions can dismantle something with real potential. What was once an industry respected organization is on track to become a cautionary tale. This decline is not due to market conditions. It is the direct result of consistently poor and short sighted decisions from executive leadership. Instead of adapting strategically, leadership has leaned into reactive and misaligned choices that have weakened the product, confused the go to market motion, and eroded trust internally and externally. There is a persistent pattern of failure in how the organization is being led: • Leadership prioritizes optics over outcomes • Decisions are made without grounding in customer reality or frontline feedback • Leaders lack a real understanding of accessibility and the client base they are supposed to serve • Hiring and promotions rely heavily on internal networks instead of experienced, qualified operators The result is an organization where employees are set up to fail and expected to solve problems that originate from poor leadership decisions, all while being told to do more with less. The culture has become increasingly toxic and unsustainable: • Employees are routinely overworked, leading to burnout, stress leave, and people quitting with no backup plan • Layoffs and reorganizations feel reactive and poorly thought out, leaving teams confused with no clear explanation • Recognition is nonexistent, both financially and verbally, with multiple years of no bonuses while leadership continues to invest in executive perks • Employee engagement is extremely low, and attempts to fix it feel performative rather than meaningful From a business standpoint, there are fundamental structural issues that continue to compound: • Teams operate in silos across Customer Success, Sales, Marketing, and Delivery, often misaligned until after deals are closed • Customers are sold one experience and delivered another, directly contributing to churn and reputational damage • Customer Success and Sales are still held accountable for revenue and retention without the support required to deliver outcomes • Delivery challenges and missed expectations continue to grow, yet frontline teams are expected to cover for them without clear direction In practice, this leads to situations where teams are asked to provide “strategy” to clients without ever being told what that strategy actually is. The go to market motion is confusing and difficult for customers to navigate, and there is little meaningful differentiation in an already saturated and increasingly competitive market. Sales and account management environments are particularly concerning: • Quotas are unrealistic and frequently disconnected from market conditions • Compensation plans are unclear, delayed, or changed mid cycle • The holdover policy allows accounts to be reassigned arbitrarily, stripping reps of commission and damaging client relationships • Territory reshuffling is constant and lacks transparency • Compensation practices have eroded trust to the point where motivation is no longer tied to performance The 2024 acquisition of an overlay company highlighted the extent of the disconnect. After years of telling clients the risks and shortcomings of overlays, the company acquired one anyway. This decision ignored (simple Google searches) publicly available legal concerns in the space, including Bloomsybox.com, LLC, Plaintiff, v. Userway, Inc., and significantly damaged credibility with both employees and customers. Leadership messaging consistently centers around phrases like “do more with less” and “we are in this together,” while in reality: • Feedback from frontline teams is ignored • Employees who raise valid, data-backed concerns are often sidelined or targeted • There is little accountability for decisions made at the top At its core, the issue is simple. Employees are being asked to solve problems that leadership created, without the support, resources, or direction needed to succeed. This is no longer a case of growing pains. It is a failure of leadership, alignment, and accountability that is actively driving the company in the wrong direction.