Accessibility Champion's Journey at Sanofi

What happens when a curious quality assurance tester encounters an odd request about color contrast? For Iulia Brehuescu, it sparked a journey that would transform not only her career but also impact accessibility practices across a global pharmaceutical giant.

Iulia's story is both inspiring and cautionary. From her early days testing web platforms at a digital agency to her current role shaping global accessibility strategy at Sanofi, she shares the exhilaration of turning a passion project into meaningful work—and the personal cost when that passion outpaced self-care. "For no surprise to everyone, that came at my physical and mental health expense," she explains of her eventual burnout. Her subsequent recovery and career transition demonstrate how professionals can maintain their impact while establishing healthier boundaries.

At Sanofi, Iulia tackles accessibility challenges across physical environments, digital spaces, and organizational culture in 70 countries. She offers fascinating insights into the unique demands of manufacturing sites, where complex layouts require balancing safety with accessibility for approximately 20% of their workforce. The conversation explores how leadership commitment—with half of their executive committee holding inclusion-related roles—creates a culture where accessibility professionals can focus on implementation rather than justification. Yulia's practical approach to balancing strategic vision with day-to-day realities provides valuable lessons for organizations at any stage of their accessibility journey.

Ready to transform accessibility from a passion project to a strategic priority in your organization? Listen now and discover how to translate global accessibility frameworks into meaningful local impact while sustaining your own well-being along the way.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Iulia Brehuescu
• 1:22 Journey into the Accessibility Field
• 4:45 Transitioning to Sanofi and Burnout
• 8:24 Accessibility in Manufacturing Environments
• 13:01 Benefits of External Partnerships
• 20:00 Balancing Strategy with Daily Implementation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello and welcome to Access Chat. I'm delighted that we're joined today by Yulia Brevoescu, who is working at Sanofi as one of the leading on sorry accessibility partner for working on accessibility. So Sanofi is a massive pharmaceuticals and healthcare giant and doing work in the space. I first met Yulia through the International Labour Organization, through their Global Business Disability Network. We've appeared on a few panels together, enjoyed speaking in each other's company and it's great to have you on Access Chat. So welcome Yulia. Can you tell us a little bit more about your role, which I've obviously just mangled, and how you came to be working in the accessibility space?

Speaker 2: 0:48

Absolutely. First of all, thank you so much for having me. As I said, I'm already a big fan of the podcast. Me and Neil already had some chats in the past and I definitely enjoy your company and talking to you.

Speaker 2: 0:56

I came into the accessibility field through maybe an unconventional path, I think as many other professionals, I actually have a background in environmental engineering and then I switched to work in quality assurance in software development. So right before I started in accessibility, I was working in quality assurance, testing, functional testing, software, web-based platforms, mobile apps. I was doing testing and test planning and at that time I was also working in a very different industry. I was working for an agency that was doing digital media, digital advertising, a lot of tech-based products and very much serving clients rather than doing like inside digital products. So I remember very vividly one time we got a request actually from a big social media platform at the time. In their testing brief it said if we could check their color contrast and they had like very specific requirements for which elements they would like us to test. I found that request actually very odd. I didn't understand why would they ask something like that, especially the QA team, when it felt like a design-related issue, and so just by curiosity, I realized that you know, looking into it, that there is such thing as web content accessibility guidelines, and I think that really raised my interest around accessibility. So that was very much my entry point into web accessibility or digital accessibility.

Speaker 2: 2:33

We, you know, I started investing then into my personal knowledge, you know be just be part of webinars, started reading a lot, started taking a lot of courses and I think I started advocating inside my team for ensuring that we test for accessibility or look for it. But of course it's not a very contained issue, right. So I realized very quickly that I had to kind of expand my network, and so then I formed a network across all product development teams, right. And so then I formed a network across all product development teams, right. So we had our own network where we were advocating and trying to embed these processes across product development. And then I think it took about two years.

Speaker 2: 3:15

From that point, you know, I kept adding more responsibility and I could take more and more, you know, initiatives from my side and from a very small project you know, passion project it kind of became a full-time job. I remember, I think, my peak moment at that time in my previous organization was when I went to in front of the CEO and all the account managers and everyone that was dealing with clients, to tell them that we, as an agency, we have accessibility capabilities. And I think you know that was. I moved really fast. We all you know our network was very passionate and we really wanted to make an impact. So, yeah, that's kind of how I got into the accessibility field, I would say. From that point, obviously I moved into a different organization and my role, particularly in the moment, expands beyond digital accessibility. I own the global strategy, the global narrative around accessibility, which covers physical environments, digital environments and a lot of the social and cultural aspects.

Speaker 1: 4:18

as well, so that's a big role, right, and it's a big organization. So I mean, how did you make the transition from working in a web agency to working in a large conglomerate organization? Were you headhunted? Was there a role advertised? Yeah, how did you end up into this new, more complex and responsible role?

Speaker 2: 4:45

Yeah, so I would say that in my previous role, as I mentioned, we moved fast to have an impact and I focused on a lot of things. For one person, right, and besides my accessibility role, I co-founded an ERG there in the company, and so I spent a lot of extra time on making sure that I work on all these aspects. For no surprise to everyone, that came to my physical and mental health expense, right. So I was forced to actually take a burnout leave, which is very common within the accessibility professionals, and so within those six months of leave, I actually reflected if I want to go back into the accessibility field, if I really want to continue doing that, because I really had to reevaluate how I approach this work in a way that's sustainable for myself right, because I wanted to make an impact, but I also wanted to learn, but I also wanted to network. So you know all these things that, as a young professional, I think you want to invest your time and be passionate about what you do and everything adds meaning to it, and so, once I recovered, actually I coincidentally there was an opening position at Sanofi, so I just applied and actually the hiring manager at the time also contacted me via LinkedIn and we started talking and it felt like a very natural transition.

Speaker 2: 6:13

I would say very first of all, I'm very privileged to even be able to come into a full-time position within the same organization as an accessibility professional. I see a lot of maybe early talent professionals that are still quite struggling to get into a full-time accessibility role, and they either. Yeah, even with certifications and even with connections. Sometimes it can still be challenging, and so I recognize my privilege that I was able to build that for myself. But then, when I joined Sanofi, it really presented with such a big opportunity to expand beyond the digital environment. It was a really challenging opportunity for me, but also exciting to learn new things and I also set different boundaries for myself coming into a new role to make sure that I contribute to the business but also serve my health and my fellow.

Speaker 3: 7:08

That's just such a powerful story and I think a lot of people right now can really identify with your story. I was, as you were talking about what intrigued you to even move into the industry. I remember I got really intrigued too. I knew that I wanted to train people with disabilities. That was something that I was feeling led to do, but I wasn't even sure if I could do that. I didn't. Sometimes you just don't know what you don't know. And I remember building my first website to you know, help people make sure that they were including people with disabilities. And I had a gentleman at the National Science Foundation who happened to be blind say well, deborah, your website is 100%, totally inaccessible to me. All I can get on your website is the name of your business. And I was like what? So it's like sometimes you just don't know what you don't know. That was many years ago, but I just loved hearing the story of why it intrigued you. And then, when it intrigued you, you didn't just stop with that. You actually started changing the world and getting other people intrigued. I think that is. One beautiful thing about the accessibility field is that people fall in love with this work. I know that people that in 2002, I was working with a big e-learning company called NetG I don't know who they are now, but and one of the women got so inspired by this she quit and she became a special ed teacher. So I love how this work inspires people.

Speaker 3: 8:33

But I also wanted to comment on something you were saying about privilege and being so blessed that you could work in this field, because unfortunately, that is being taken away from so many professionals. I was talking to a professional the other day who just happens to be very, very talented and also happens to be a person that's blind, and he left his corporate job because he just felt totally unheard. And then people are like well, what's wrong with you? Why would you leave during these times? But you know our hearts are so into this and so I think, if anything, the need for us to do more mentoring and making sure that people are being included and champion the individuals that are supporting corporations, because I think the community, the advocates, say that sometimes we have a tendency to blame the individuals working for the brand for everything that's happening with that brand. We've certainly seen that recently.

Speaker 3: 9:28

So I really just wanted to comment how much your story really touched my heart, because this is how you make a difference, but then you were so busy making a difference you forgot to take care of your own self, and so I just think it's like Neil had commented. This is not uncommon in a field where we really are trying to make a difference in the world. So I just really want to applaud you and really appreciate the champion that you've done for our community as well, and I don't know if you wanted to make a comment here, but I will give you the mic and then I know Antonio has a question. But, thank you, go ahead, antonio. Okay, mike, and then I know Antonio has a question, but thank you, go ahead, antonio.

Speaker 4: 10:04

Okay, I recently wrote an article on the European Business Accessibility Act and manufacturing. Sanofi has strong links to manufacturing and it's not often that we have a manufacturer, someone that works for a company, like here on AccessShot so I want us to go through what is the link between accessibility in the context of a large company like Sanofi, who is in the manufacturing space?

Speaker 2: 10:27

Thank you for the question. I would say when I started at Sanofi, my role was very much focused on the workforce, right so we looked at our environment and making sure that our employees are able to bring their whole selves to work. They are able to perform their best without to work. They are able to perform their best without thinking about, without encountering any sort of barriers. I think, within our strategy, we definitely need to also consider the employees across the manufacturing areas.

Speaker 2: 10:57

I visited one of our manufacturing sites in Frankfurt and I can say it's not even comparable with an office, right. Those complex layouts across these spaces is sometimes very difficult to make accessible and making sure that, first of all, people are able to come there, perform their work and also be safe, while also accessible right so health and safety comes first when it comes to manufacturing areas. However, we can't be oblivious about this population, right? So I think around 20% of our employees are part of the manufacturing areas and also working in labs, and so we were very intentional within our workplace and accessibility strategy when we set up the requirements for how do we want these spaces to be accessible and to what level, and so we're very much intentional about what does that mean to have accessibility in those areas? So I wouldn't. I'm not sure if that answers your question, but basically just want to make sure that we are covering these areas.

Speaker 1: 12:06

So following on from that, so there's an example that I can think of in manufacturing. It's not in the pharmaceutical space, but it's actually in the automotive space. So BMW had a highly skilled workforce assembling cars in their factories in Germany. But they're all getting older and people were retiring on grounds of ill health and mobility earlier than their standard retirement age. So this was then causing a real skills issue for the organization because they were losing people before they were able to either train new employees or automate the production process.

Speaker 1: 12:47

So one of the things that they did in the BMW production lines was start adding in seats. So they raised up the production lines and they created seating, because people were then able to take the weight off their feet, they were comfortable and so they were able to actually stay at work for longer. So this is a sort of a blend of sort of health and safety and accessibility, sort of thinking about aging into conditions and keeping people working. So I think that you're right the context in in those kind of environments as to what you would consider to be accessibility considerations, it's very different. You know what's your home office environment like, what's your office environment like. You know the whole sort of idea of bringing accessibility to frontline workers is tremendously different, and so you've got manufacturing, and then you've also got the sort of frontline workers that are out and mobile and so on, and then the context in which they're using technology is very different as well.

Speaker 2: 13:49

Yeah, I think one of the themes that we see when we say accessibility is so broad, but one of the themes that we see around the needs for this type of community is around ergonomics, and I think we're in very early stages. But even if you want to implement ergonomic solutions for this types of workers, you can't just look at our offices and implement the same solutions. It's very, very different, and so we just recently actually reconnected with a researcher that's doing these types of assessment and analysis around these types of environments, and so it's very early stages. But actually, because we have these solutions in the offices, we're trying to also monitor and provide the same in manufacturing areas, but I can't fully provide examples right now.

Speaker 1: 14:39

No, fair enough, and I think also it's about equivalence and quality of experience, rather than trying to replicate something in a different environment.

Speaker 3: 14:48

I also one thing that I noticed here in the United States our manufacturers made some of the best progress of any other groups, and when you say manufacturers, that's such a big word, right, but we started. Actually it started with Canon. A lot of people think it started with Walgreens, but it actually started with Canon. And then Walgreens is like what a great thing. And then Walgreens really stepped up with their manufacturing group, making their plants, just making them so much more accessible for everybody. And when they started bringing in with Canon and Walgreens people like Sarah, my daughter, sarah with intellectual disabilities, they found that they really had to train differently to make sure that, you know, the employees really understood what the job was. And when they did that, all of a sudden all of the other employees benefited from this and all of a sudden production went up. And then production went up.

Speaker 3: 15:40

I know with Canon, for example, they always do an annual survey of how you know how happy are your employees and they noticed that in Naperville outside Chicago and Illinois this one group they got wonderful ratings and the only thing that was different this was back like in the early 2000s, but the only thing was different was this program where they had hired people with intellectual disabilities to, you know, help make sure the cameras didn't just go in the landfills, and so it was really powerful to see that, as people were included, other employees were proud that their, their employer, were taking the time to make sure it just, and pride translates to productivity as well. So we've just learned so much from our manufacturers. I just wanted to say that and once again, compliment y'all from everything you're doing, because that's where so much of the work happens.

Speaker 4: 16:34

And today we know that in the space of manufacturing, many infrastructure exists in the digital realm before being built. So we have a kind of a digital tune of the factory. You are able to anticipate, you are able to build everything in the digital world and you're able to test it. So when you go to build the facility, you already know what to expect and how to make it better.

Speaker 2: 16:55

Exactly. Also very difficult to retrofit these old industrial sites that have been there for hundreds of years, right. So it's about definitely it's about adapting. We are definitely a work in progress, I would say. Right now we're embarking in another five-year strategy around our inclusion and accessibility strategies A lot of these areas. There's still a lot of work, including our office spaces, so very, very exciting that we have a very clear plan for the next five years.

Speaker 1: 17:30

That's fantastic. We also know that there is significant leadership commitment within the organization because Sanofi has taken the bit and they've gone with Valuable 500, but they're also engaged in various other initiatives as well, and so I know that certainly the HQ is in France and there's a lot of initiatives that are undertaken in France where Sanofi is one of the sort of leaders in convening other organizations to come and talk about accessibility. So thinking of convening other organizations to come and talk about accessibility, so thinking of convening and sharing and so on. We first met with the ILO. What are the sort of things that you feel that you benefit from being part of these kind of groups and those kind of conversations? What was it that sort of brought you to sort of join that? I'm assuming that you were persuading the organization to participate right?

Speaker 2: 18:29

yeah, I think it's we. I absolutely value the partnership that we have with these external organizations. You know the ilo, purple space, valuable 500. I think they really consult and validate and support our communities and the work that we do. So I think for me it's twofold right Is trying to go outside and bring the outside in. Right To see what other professionals are doing and also see if we're able to adapt any of these learnings.

Speaker 2: 19:05

I think one of the common things that I see across these panels and keynotes a lot of the people already know these best practices. We already have the best practices. I think the most challenging part is how do you adapt it to your business? Right, how do you bring? Someone says we have this global strategy and we do this, this, this and these are the pillars and this is the vision and all makes sense. But then you go back to your job and, okay, how do you start? Right, how do you embed all these practices?

Speaker 2: 19:37

And I think understanding your business and what your business cares about. It's one of the first steps to be successful, because it might not be something that you can do now, but it might come at a later stage. Right? So for us it was when we started in our accessibility journey. We started with the physical accessibility because it just made sense at that time. That's what the business was willing to invest in, right? But then, you know, we started adding digital accessibility and created that governance around it and then started looking at workplace adjustments. So it all came in a natural order. But maybe other companies are doing it the other way around. So I think always it's important for me to learn what other big companies are doing. Like you, neil, I've been learning from you for a long time. Yeah, go ahead.

Speaker 1: 20:32

Well, I think we all learn from each other, but I think you're right we always have to think about what works in the context of our own organizations. It's very easy to go to these conferences and get jealous or feel like you're not doing enough because someone's had a success in a particular area, and it's also very easy. You know you talked about your strategy and it's great that you've got a five-year strategy. But how do you balance right and this is a tough question how do you balance the work that's on the strategic and the long-term with the day-to-day realities of firefighting, the accessibility issues within the organization, because everyone that works in accessibility in organizations knows that stuff comes at you with little warning. So how do you balance that?

Speaker 4: 21:25

and let me just add a line to that particularly in an organization that has offices in multiple places around the world.

Speaker 2: 21:31

That's a really good question. Well, first of all, I think sometimes we have to say no to things and set out some boundaries, especially for my particular role. I think I need to be very clear of what I do and what I don't do for the business, because my role is now more strategic rather than operational. So I don't own any of this work, but I do support the people that own it right. So I need people to understand what they own and what they don't own, and still always remind them that this is our plan and this is what we're trying to achieve right now, and then, if we have sufficient time, then we can add extra things to our plates. One other thing is and you already mentioned is the senior leadership support. That's very, very important and again, I do believe that we're in a privileged position because sometimes a lot of accessibility professionals don't have that support and that's why they need to focus all their energy to convince senior leadership to back them up or support them or give them budget resources and so on.

Speaker 2: 22:32

Half of our executive committee have some sort of inclusion role. Either it's focused on accessibility, disability inclusion they have to sponsor a specific ERG but they also sometimes go externally and talk about it. They also mention it maybe in town halls when they go on their tours in different countries. They take the time to actually meet with local ARGs and they kind of listen to what the community says locally. So I think that's very, very important because it kind of plays on the culture that we have.

Speaker 2: 23:05

So if our CEO just happens to mention you know how important accessibility and inclusion is at Sanofi in a global town hall and it takes like 30 seconds, that really means a lot for a lot of the people who do the work. So I would say that that definitely contributes. We are present in 70 countries so obviously my role is global. I work with global departments, but we do have these local subject matter experts that take this global framework, global strategy, and try to translate it into their local context and maybe some of the things don't apply for them at that specific moment, but they are required to adapt the strategy for their local offices and also they are accountable for it. They need to report on the progress as well.

Speaker 1: 23:56

That makes total sense. And, yes, the regional contexts are going to be very different. When you're in 70 countries, which is pretty much the same as us, maybe we share quite a big footprint. I know we do some of the digital factory stuff for you, but those contexts are really different and the attitudes and the approaches are different. The legal requirements are different. Whilst you can have an overall strategy and strategic aims, some of that stuff can't apply or has to be done in a different way.

Speaker 1: 24:22

So, yeah, I mean making sure that people know that they're on the hook for this and accountable is really important. Yeah, well done you for achieving that balance. I think it's something that we all sometimes struggle to do. So well done. I've really enjoyed this interview. I think that it will be the first of many, maybe let's see. We'd love to have you back, I'm sure, and hear more about what's going on. I need to thank Amazon and MyClearText for supporting us, keeping us on air, keeping us captured, and thank, of course, you for joining us today. It's been a pleasure to have you on.

Speaker 2: 24:57

Thanks for having me.