Accessibility Champs
In 2020 I leveraged my personal passion for accessibility and spearheaded Hitachi Vantara's first ever product accessibility program. During 2 years of collaboration with 25+ designers and engineers, the program produced a robust accessibility kit that is still in circulation.
As a senior product designer in a 115 year old engineering organization
I produced an accessibility training program for digital product teams.
Based on 100+ product design reviews, the program produced several product accessibility documents for PMs, designers, and developers
improving accessibility for dozens of digital products
and elevating accessibility for 20+ designers around the world.
Outcomes
In addition to making Hitachi products more inclusive this initiative also helps to position the design organization as a leader in accessibility, enhancing the brand and earning trust while meeting critical legal and ethical standards.
For more on the importance and impact of such a program, Anna E. Cooke has shared some excellent research about design education gaps and the value of shifting left with accessibility in the product development lifecycle.