Verification Before Shipping

Step 2: Check Against the Brief

Reference the design brief:

• The stated problem is addressed
• All identified personas are served
• Success criteria are met or measurable
• Nothing in "out of scope" crept into scope (and vice versa)

Step 3: Accessibility Verification

Run — do not guess:

If code exists:

• Automated accessibility scan (axe-core, Lighthouse, or equivalent) — report results
• Keyboard navigation test — report results
• Screen reader test (at minimum, check heading structure and form labels)
• Zoom to 200% — report results
• Check prefers-reduced-motion behaviour — report results

If design artefacts only:

• Contrast ratios verified with a tool (not by eye)
• Touch targets measured (not estimated)
• Heading hierarchy documented
• All states designed (not just the happy path)

Step 4: Content Verification

• All placeholder text has been replaced with real content
• Error messages are written (not "TODO")
• Alt text is present for all images
• Labels are specific and descriptive

Step 5: Cross-Reference Personas

For each persona from the inclusive-personas phase:

• Could [Persona 1] complete the primary task? How?
• Could [Persona 2] complete the primary task? How?
• Could [Edge Case Persona] complete the primary task? What barriers remain?

Step 6: Check Design Debt

Before declaring the project shippable, review the Design Debt Register in design-state.md:

• All Critical and Major items are Resolved (not just Open or Escalated)
• Any Escalated items have been addressed or consciously Accepted by the user
• Open Minor items have been reviewed — the user knows what debt ships with this release
• Accessibility debt items have explicit user acknowledgement if Accepted

Step 7: Report

Present verification results to the user:

## Verification Report: [Feature/Task]

**Date:** [YYYY-MM-DD]

### Plan Completion
[All tasks complete / X tasks remaining]

### Brief Alignment
[Aligned / Gaps identified]

### Accessibility Results
- Automated scan: [Pass/Fail — specific issues]
- Keyboard: [Pass/Fail — specific issues]
- Screen reader: [Pass/Fail — specific issues]
- Zoom: [Pass/Fail — specific issues]
- Motion: [Pass/Fail — specific issues]

### Content Status
[Complete / Gaps identified]

### Persona Walkthrough
[Summary of persona-by-persona evaluation]

### Design Debt Status
- Open items shipping with this release: [count]
- Escalated items: [count] — [resolved/accepted]
- Accessibility debt accepted: [count] — [summary]
- Oldest unresolved: [DD-XXX] from [date]

### Verdict
[Ready to ship / Issues to resolve first]

Integration

• Called by: Before any completion claim
• Follows: designpowers-critique, design-handoff
• Blocks: Completion claims, PR creation, merge decisions

The Iron Law

If you cannot produce evidence that the design works for the identified personas — including those at the margins of the ability spectrum — it is not done. Go back and verify.