Online Accessibility
Dave Fleming - Portfolio
Overview
With over ten years working in the Online Accessibility space, I have worked in a wide range of roles within Fortune 500 companies. This career path has given me the experience and skills needed to successfully assist and/or lead your team to the best possible A11y solutions. Given the chance, I can dependably provide the right balance of teamwork, contemporary methodology and progressive tools to get the job done.
ADA Standards
Keeping up with the ADA industry standards WCAG Guidelines and Fed 508 Standards, it's a good plan to know where your most effective resources live, e.g., the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative.
Using these insights, I've been able to learn how to find and utilize the most widely used and recognized A11y tools, such as JAWS, NVDA, iOS VoiceOver, ChromeVox, and Android TalkBack.
In a recent article I wrote on LinkedIn, How do we improve video experiences for People With Disabilities?, I share some insights on how UX and Accessibility solutions can work together to provide the best holistic video for People With Disabilities.
Experience
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Verizon Wireless - 2017: Accessibility Analyst, Content Writer, and A11y Research
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Verizon Wireless - 2017: UX Accessibility Pattern Library presentation and proposal
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Best Buy - 2016: Pattern Library UX Design Lead consulting with Accessibility Lead
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Target - 2006: post-litigation Accessibility Resources and Training Consultant
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Humans on the Run, A11y projects - 2018: Developing an A11y app to solve closed caption challenges for Video and A11y-friendly content for Carousels
Future State A11y
When it comes to understanding the complex nature of accessibility where browsers, operating systems, code, usability, assistive technology and the overall experience for PWD, it's easy to see where and why setbacks and issues arise.
One example of these challenges concerns the use of Carousels, AKA slide shows that are frequently used to display product content that scrolls continuously - a usability issue in and of itself. Most people have no idea how annoying it is for PWD to encounter unusable displays of information such as carousels. Having worked side by side with PWD and listening to what they hear and have to put up with, prompted more empathy but also prompted me to explore solutions. I have written a short article, Making Carousels More A11y-Friendly, that addresses carousels' issues and poses a few solutions.
From a business standpoint, many companies completely miss out on this opportunity for sales. Utilizing A/B Testing and other forms of usability assessments, organizations can quickly learn what, where and how they can make life easier for customers with disabilities - as well as making a difference in an increased revenue flow.
Competitive, Comparative Analysis
Problem: Little input from people with disabilities
We don’t really know what Assistive Technology users encounter unless we are able to study them as they navigate through the varied landscape of Verizon product information, conducting their typical goals online.
Solution: Defect & Usability testing of people with disabilities. Ideally, we could conduct user testing studies to help us understand more about the difficulties they encounter. Internally, we have a distinct advantage in being able to work with Verizon Wireless Accessibility team members that have disabilities, but who also have a high level of professional expertise working with Assistive Technology and the use of Defects Tracking tools.