Deval Dholakia

Company Overview: ServiceNow is dedicated to creating a more inclusive digital experience for all users, regardless of ability. To achieve this, the company has integrated accessibility into its development lifecycle, ensuring that accessibility is considered at every stage of product development

• Developed and implemented a comprehensive accessibility strategy aligned with WCAG 2.2 AA and Section 508 standards.
• Established and maintained accessibility guidelines and best practices for the entire UX team
• Leveraged Figma to create and maintain a centralized design system library with pre-built, accessible components (buttons, form fields, etc.) that adhere to WCAG guidelines, ensuring consistency and scalability of accessible design across all projects.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to ensure accessibility is a core consideration throughout the product lifecycle
• Conducted user research with diverse groups, including individuals with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments, utilizing methods such as usability testing, interviews, surveys, and contextual inquiry.
• Experienced in adapting research methodologies to accommodate participants' specific needs and abilities (e.g., providing alternative formats for surveys, using sign language interpreters, and conducting remote testing with screen reader users).
• Developed user personas and scenarios based on research findings to guide the design process and ensure accessibility considerations were prioritized.
• Incorporated accessibility principles into design systems, components, and patterns.
• Advocated for inclusive design practices, and challenged design assumptions to create more accessible experiences.
• Led accessibility testing efforts, utilizing both automated and manual techniques.
• Identified and addressed accessibility issues in design mockups, prototypes, and production environments
• Collaborated with developers to implement effective remediation strategies.
• Provided regular accessibility training and workshops for designers, developers, and product managers
• Promoted accessibility awareness through internal communications, presentations, and knowledge sharing sessions
• Fostered a culture of accessibility within the UX team
• ServiceNow is dedicated to creating a more inclusive digital experience for all users, regardless of ability
• To achieve this, the company has integrated accessibility into its development lifecycle, ensuring that accessibility is considered at every stage of product development

Company Overview: TPGi is one of the world's leading authorities in Accessibility. TPGi is a service-based company providing expert-level Accessibility services to some of the most well-known brands in the world to achieve end-to-end accessibility for their digital assets

• Perform accessibility evaluations of web pages, desktop applications, mobile apps and other emerging platforms against the WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines
• Testing various web applications and websites on different browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari using different screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA, Voiceover (OSX & iOS), and Android Talkback
• Apply accessibility testing tools, use assistive technology and perform expert manual analysis of client products using the TPGi ARC platform
• Clearly documenting accessibility findings and recommendations for the clients, building upon the extensive base content found in the TPGi knowledge base
• Participate in occasional accessibility training to clients, virtually and on-site as warranted
• Answer accessibility related questions from clients to ensure our insights are actionable
• Provide ongoing 'agile' accessibility development support to HelpDesk clients through the TPGi ARC platform
• Keep up to date with the latest developments in the field of accessibility
• Collaborate with other team members to deliver the best solution for the client
• Configure projects for other engineers as they come in the pipeline

Company Overview: The Accessible User Experience (AuX) team at Wells Fargo commits to ensuring that all internal and external-facing applications not only meet the requirements as outlined in WCAG and Section 508, but also ensure that the user experience is maintained at an optimal level

• Configuring an internal component library/ framework that is regularly updated for accessibility and usability while regularly having updates to design made
• Usability is a priority for teams at Wells Fargo and therefore user studies are often conducted in order to ensure that the experience of all types of users and across the disability spectrum, is kept in mind
• Participate in UX design reviews which includes providing wireframe feedback, working with Greenlines/ mocks, provide feedback on content to ensure that an accessible user experience is being provided for all users
• Identify potential accessibility issues and recommend best practices based on W3C's WCAG 2.0/ WCAG 2.1 using the proper HTML5 and ARIA 1.1 semantics
• Provide document accessibility specifications for use by User Experience and Development teams
• Identify design direction that requires further accessibility research and be involved in the research
• Recommend and help implement accessibility improvements to the existing design systems and internal component libraries
• Contribute guidance to align design solutions with user needs, feasibility, technically possibilities
• Test prototypes as well as new patterns in development to ensure usability when considering (but not limited to) various disabilities and combinations of Assistive Technology, browser settings and interface hardware (keyboard, touch, etc.)
• Work with design, content, development and QA to ensure that any accessibility defects identified during the test phase are remediated in accordance with documented recommendations
• Assist application partners in evaluating and remediating accessibility defects to meet risk and compliance and enterprise accessibility policies
• Provide guidance on VPAT requests and 3rd party vendor evaluation
• The Accessible User Experience (AuX) team at Wells Fargo commits to ensuring that all internal and external-facing applications not only meet the requirements as outlined in WCAG and Section 508, but also ensure that the user experience is maintained at an optimal level
• This includes using an internal component library/ framework that is regularly updated for accessibility and usability while regularly having updates to design made
• Usability is a priority for teams at Wells Fargo and therefore user studies are often conducted in order to ensure that the experience of all types of users and across the disability spectrum, is kept in mind

Company Overview: The team is designed to test all the internal Google applications and ensure that they are compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG) and Google Internal Accessibility Guidelines by testing the applications with different screen readers on various browsers.

• Lead a team of nine Accessibility testers and conduct daily standup meetings to review project details, status, progress, and timeline
• Capacity planning once web applications were ready for testing by gathering information such as environments to be tested on, deadlines, and tester availability
• Provides training to the our testers as well as the internal google community on accessibility development
• Work as a liaison between the development team and testing team
• Validating google internal web applications against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and Google Internal Accessibility Guidelines
• Testing the web applications on different browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Safari using different screen readers such as Job Access With Speech (JAWS), Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA), Voiceover (OSX & iOS), Chromevox and Android Talkback
• Tests the applications using tools such as AXE, Color Contrast Analyzer, WAVE, Web Aim Color Contrast Checker, Lighthouse and iAccess
• Bugs are logged using Google internal bug logging tool by providing appropriate steps/screenshots/videos and HTML5 /ARIA 1.1 attributes to resolve the bug
• Ensures that all the bugs are triaged as per the priority and severity of the bugs and guiding the developers in solving the issues
• Debugs the code to find out the cause for an issue and suggest the required changes to the developers
• The Team is designed to test all the internal google applications and ensure that they are compliant to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG) and Google Internal Accessibility Guidelines by testing the applications with different screen readers on various browsers
• My role is to lead a team of nine Accessibility testers who aim and work to ensure that those guidelines are met and to ensure that Usability is also kept in mind for all users

• Company Overview: Worked with various companies to integrate a more inclusive design from the start of the SDLC and assist in the remediation efforts of already existing UIs by applying a holistic approach of accessibility and usability
• Reviewed and provided feedback for mocks/wireframes prior to development
• Includes platforms such as Invision
• Reviewed business requirement documents (BRD) and analyzed the application with the goals in mind, to make the application compliant with WCAG 2.0 AA standards
• Audited supporting web applications and desktop clients for compliance, HTML code validation, WCAG 2.0 review and guidance, usability and semantics
• Attended meetings with project team members including business and technical members where effort estimation, next steps, and issues / solutions were prioritized
• Audited various websites and software programs using assistive technologies such as Job Access With Speech (JAWS), Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA), Voiceover (OSX & iOS), and Android Talkback
• Triaging issues logged by other accessibility QA testers and assigning appropriate severities/priorities
• Providing solutions to developers with the relevant code-level suggestions that can be implemented without extra effort from developers
• Worked with various companies to integrate a more inclusive design from the start of the SDLC and assist in the remediation efforts of already existing UIs by applying a holistic approach of accessibility and usability

Company Overview: Stony Brook University aims to empower members of the campus to re-imagine education, so all students can reach their highest potential and fulfill their aspirations through life-changing educational experiences

• My role was to work with people with a variety of disabilities who use assistive technologies (screen reader, screen magnifier, keyboard-only access)
• Worked with disabled students and faculty of the university to come up with accessible alternatives that would enhance their university experience and ensure that they didn't have any obstacles to face
• Worked on documenting the current challenges faced by disabled campus members and communicated them to the head of the Accessibility Support Center
• Worked with users of Assistive Technologies (AT) to understand the different AT and how they operate
• Worked with different Assistive Technologies such as JAWS, NVDA, Dragon and tested for accessibility of the sites and platforms being used by the university
• Prepared reports and documents that would discuss the need to integrate accessibility into the Web platforms since many students were limited by the online portals being used
• My role was to work with people with a variety of disabilities who use assistive technologies (screen reader, screen magnifier, keyboard-only access)