How do I balance accessibility with design and deadlines?

You can design accessibly now, and still it feels like a tug of war, against beauty, against the clock. That tension is real, but it often comes from treating accessibility as something added at the end. Bolted on, it fights everything. Built in, it mostly stops fighting. Good accessible design and good design are not enemies. Clear contrast, sane structure, readable type, these serve everyone, not only the people who need them most. When the two seem opposed, it is usually one specific tradeoff, not the whole philosophy. Name the actual conflict and it gets smaller. Choose the accessibility basics that never come off the table, and make them defaults in your process, not decisions you relitigate each deadline. Decide once, at the start, and the clock stops being an excuse. The rest you can negotiate case by case.