Resumé

MIT / W3C, Cambridge, MA

Web Accessibility Specialist / Web Accessibility Technical Lead / Accessibility Strategy and Technical Lead

June 2006 - July 2023

• Provided content, editorial, and technical expertise reflected in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.0.
• Managed the processes of obtaining wide review and obtaining consensus in various types of publications, and provided technical and editorial quality assurance.
• Helped contribute accessibility features or guidance to many web technologies through systematic review and comment on specifications, and direct engagement with groups developing them.
• Supported mainstream understanding of accessibility needs by helping to conceive and develop a set of widely referenced Accessibility User Needs documents that provide details of accessibility requirements.
• Provided strategic leadership identifying the impacts of technology changes and emerging user needs.
• Helped conceive and incubate the project that is now W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 3.0, with a new approach recognizing changes in technology in the past decade.
• Engaged with representatives of diverse user groups, finding ways to authentically understand perspectives, advocate with less-heard voices, and contribute to mutual understanding in group discussions.
• Represented the organization via keynote and other presentations at academic and industry conferences.

Watchfire, Ottawa, ON.

Accessibility Project Manager

August 2002 - June 2006

• Led the redevelopment of the Bobby product developed at CAST (see below) into Watchfire’s WebXM tool.
• Continued to provide industry leadership in the development of web content accessibility testing approaches and helping define testability of accessibility guidelines.
• Worked with customers to understand their business needs, support deployment of the product, provide best practices training, and design and implement customizations as needed.

CAST, Peabody, MA.

Bobby Project Manager / Technical Designer

June 1998 - August 2002

• Managed continued development of Bobby, the first Web accessibility evaluation tool. Collaborated with developers of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 to ensure Bobby’s tests harmonized with the WCAG 1.0 guidance.
• Supported the organization to use XML and XSLT technologies in a early digital book format with support to implement UDL principles in content.
• Developed ways to apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to early web design capabilities.
• Developed content and design for the organization’s early web site, to provide content both about and as an example of UDL principles.

University of Denver, Denver, CO.

Disability Services Technology Specialist

September 1993 - August 1997

• Coordinated accessibility accommodations for students and employees with disabilities.
• Managed data from a campus accessibility survey to help prioritize building improvements.
• Provided technical expertise for the library of assistive technologies, and instructed students in their use.
• Produced accessible formats of materials for students, with early adoption of the emerging Web for this purpose.

Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA

Master of Education (Ed.M.)

June 1998

Emphasis on administration, community development, and technology in education.

University of Denver, Denver, CO

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

June 1998

Major in Psychology, minors in Music and History.

Technical skills

• Data formats: RDF, OWL, JSON, yaml
• Document formats: HTML, XML, CSS, markdown
• Programming environments: JavaScript, Java, php, XSLT

Soft skills

• Knowledge of intersection between users and technology
• Ability to perceive connections between topics
• Analysis and clarification of technical misunderstandings
• Support people to express and develop their own skills