A Bit About Me #
I keep myself busy working as a Senior Accessibility Consultant and Trainer while also pursuing my Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interactions at Iowa State University. As a former front-end developer, my focus tends to land on building/teaching others how to make more accessible components/patterns, but I am also very interested in creating inclusive SVGs and exploring the role of people with disabilities in the emerging technology fields.
I like to travel (pre-COVID), garden, and engage with the accessibility and open source dev communities in my spare time. I am the creator of the Accessibility (A11Y) Style Guide, Accessibility (A11Y) Talks virtual meet-up, and the creator of the A11y Cats design.
Accessibility + UX Philosophy #
When we talk about digital accessibility, we are talking about digital inclusion. The actual process of making something accessible involves rules and standards, tests and tools, but inclusive design and development are more abstract than that. It's a shift in thinking.
When we rethink our approach to design and development, we go beyond just the base level of simple functionality. We instead ask, how is this design or code going to be consumed? How can we make it even more intelligible and easier for people to use? How can we create something truly amazing that everyone can enjoy? It is only through UX Research that we can truly answer these questions.
In the end, inclusive design and development means making something valuable, not just accessible, to as many people as we can.