Accessibility Program Manager

Since the beginning of 2020, I have pivoted in my career from engineering to accessibility program management. Blackhawk Network made me their first dedicated employee working on web accessibility. Within the first year, I developed a comprehensive accessibility plan that is being applied globally.

Skills

  • Accessibility: Program development and implementation across a global organization, developed a training program and resources for each discipline in the software development life cycle, auditing, mentoring, procuring SaaS tooling/vendor management, design review and contractor management
  • Programming Languages: HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, JavaScript, LESS, Sass, PHP, Symfony, AngularJS, NodeJS, ReactJS
  • CMS Experience: WordPress, Timber (WordPress + Sensio Twig)
  • Responsive Development: Mobile-First Responsive Web Design
  • Performance: Experience with minifying and concatenating JS and CSS, critical CSS and using JavaScript plugins (e.g. respond.js, modernizr, picturefill, loadcss, lazyload)
  • User Experience: Experience with wireframing, prototyping and usability testing techniques
  • Version Control: Github, Bitbucket, Git, SVN
  • Build Management: Gulp, Bower, Grunt, Hologram, NodeJS, Webpack

Work Experiences

BlackHawk Network (2020 – Present) Accessibility Program Manager

As the accessibility program manager, I have:

  • Implemented an accessibility plan for each step of the software development lifecycle and agile process.

  • Released mandatory training and built a resource repository for product owners, designers, developers, quality assurance and customer service representatives.

  • Prioritized and audited several ecommerce sites from all across the globe producing:

    • WCAG 2.1 AA, revised Section 508 and EN 301 549 compliance reports
    • Detailed issues for bug tracking and
    • A roadmap for remediation

BlackHawk Network, Giftcards.com (2016 – 2020) Senior Software Engineer

When Blackhawk Network acquired Giftcards.com, I was brought on to help with the front-end of the site:

  • Implemented the mobile optimized purchase flow with ReactJS that all of our products will use
  • Managed the state of accessibility
  • Optimized new areas of the sites to use flexbox and grid

Giftcards.com (2013-2016) Senior UI Developer

  • Audited the site for accessibility and tracked the progress in Confluence before adding bugs to Jira.
  • Developed a custom responsive and accessible pattern library that is visible to the internal team as a code-based style guide using hologram and switched the site to Sass with a Gulp build process.
  • Conducted discovery for the site’s content creators and detailed what needed to be developed in the CMS.
  • Helped to implement the unifying of the products through a standard purchasing process
  • Developed wireframes for the admin tool for a product

Oncology Nursing Society (2006-2013) Web Designer/Developer

  • Designed and developed responsive conference websites (Connections 2012, Connections 2013 and Congress 2013) utilizing HTML5/CSS3 and jQuery
  • Implemented UX techniques such as wireframing, prototyping and usability testing
  • Designed and developed TheCancerJourney.org website and logo (the main part of the site no longer exists)
  • Developed several online courses (coded and designed interactive elements with the course facilitator)
  • Learning Management System (LMS) administrator

Five Star Development (2004-2006) Flash Designer/Developer

  • Worked as part of a team to design and develop custom interactive elements for Heinz training modules. This project was developed using Flash, Dreamweaver and Photoshop.
  • Designed and developed a complete set of training modules for Sharp Electronics (CD), which entailed a creating a custom player interface using Flash and implementing all of the content for the project.
  • Other eLearning projects included: Sheetz, Ford, and US Steel.

Freelance Experience

Kind Girls Mentor Program (2015)

  • Worked as part of a team to develop an accessible website as part of the Open Air Challenge

Advanced Window and Door (2009-Present) Web Designer/Developer

Western PA Veterinarian Medical Association (2005) Web Designer/Developer

  • Created and designed a database driven website for the WPVMA utilizing HTML, CSS and PHP/MySQL. Created the original artwork, logo and Flash animation.