(she/her)
Senior web accessibility specialist, well-versed in UX design principles and what it takes to build accessible web sites and products. I like to work on projects that improve the lives of people who use them.
IAAP Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA)
Assess UI design patterns, markup and structure for accessibility features, conformance to WCAG, overall performance, and usability. I advise individuals one-on-one to work through specific issues, write and present training materials on accessible coding practices to teams, streamline processes for aggregating accessibility scan results, report findings and facilitate issue remediation.
Understand a design system and ensure that its rules and exceptions are reflected in markup and style naming conventions, organization, and documentation that includes accessibility goals and practices and serves multiple audiences, from product owners to developers. (I spoke on this topic at SmashingConf NYC in 2019.)
Evaluate UI designs in the context of visual, functional, and accessibility requirements, and translate them into responsive and accessible web interfaces. I've participated in the process from user research and design ideation to technical planning and development.
Web accessibility engineering, evaluations, reporting and remediation.
Implement and maintain a replicable process for reporting on accessibility conformance across multiple web properties for the WECMS contract using a combination of manual and automated tests, and generate reports using OpenACR (VPAT format). Evaluate websites according to WCAG-EM to ensure conformance to accessibility standards (WCAG), usability best practices, and inclusive design. Adept at using automated accessibility tools to identify errors and enhance code quality. Works collaboratively throughout the process to apply accessibility guidelines and advocate for the adoption of accessible design and coding practices.
Front-end development, writing, and design.
2017 - 2022: Worked alongside client design and development teams to integrate responsive, accessible and performant coding practices, planned and built pattern libraries (and usually most of the web components documented within), and developed and presented training materials to introduce accessibility. In addition to continued work with Vineyard Vines through 2020, I spent most of this time consulting with large-scale financial services companies.
2008 - 2016: Shifted from primarily building and handing off code to more collaborative work with our clients' development teams (LEGO shop, Boston Globe, Vineyard Vines), and contributed regularly to JQuery and JQuery UI open source projects. Advocated within the web development community for progressive enhancement coding practices (co-wrote a book on it!).
Early 2000s: Developed mobile interfaces using web standards (Frito Lay handheld, Stop & Shop's Bluetooth-based Shopping Buddy), defined and documented design systems, and built and maintained web sites for long standing clients (ForestCity, now Brookfield Asset Management, Radius and Via Matta restaurants, Byggmeister homebuilders).
Spring 2001 - Fall 2003
Freelance front-end development.
Built and maintained web sites, coded marketing emails, and augmented engineering staff. Clients included Timberland, Empirix (now Hammer), and the non-profit Hyde Square Task Force, among others.
Spring 1999 - Spring 2001
Quality assurance / front-end development.
Tested and built web sites for Siemens and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).
VoiceOver, NVDA, Narrator
Command line: Pa11y CI, axe-core, Cypress, Siteimprove API
In browser: Wave, Axe DevTools, Lighthouse
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, web standard APIs; WCAG, WAI-ARIA, WCAG-EM
StencilJS, Vue/Nuxt, Lit/LitElement, Eleventy, Jest; familiar with React, Angular, Puppeteer
SASS, Tailwind
Figma / Figjam, Adobe Creative Suite, JSDoc, Storybook, Fractal
Salesforce, Mural
Practical accessibility, part 1: Markup semantics & ARIA
Filament Group blog, March 2021
Practical accessibility, part 2: Name (almost) everything
Filament Group blog, April 2021
Building forms with custom elements
Filament Group blog, June 2022
Video: Lessons Learned From A Decade Of Building Pattern Libraries
SmashingConf NYC, October 2019
Designing with Progressive Enhancement
New Riders, 2010
Cornell University
Bachelor of Science in Human Development, 1998
Research assistant at the Lab of Experimental Psychopathology and Cornell Institute for Research on Children. Kappa Alpha Theta.
School District Clerk (SAU #25)
Elected term, 2022 - 2025
Approve leases and expenditures, assist Bedford town officials with school-specific ballot measures and elections.
Town of Bedford Conservation Commission
Chair, 2020 - 2021; Board member, 2017 - 2020
Work with town Planning & Zoning, local residents, and businesses on compliance with environmental ordinances.
Educational Farm at Joppa Hill
Volunteer, Summer 2021 - Present
Horse barn maintenance and animal care. Favorite residents: Bessie (mini donkey), Suzie (Haflinger pony), and Dundee (emu).