A11y === UX

At OneMain Financial, I've owned our end-to-end accessibility strategy, shifting from discovery to remediation to organizational advocacy. In 2022, I laid the foundational pieces, crafting our first official Accessibility Statement, ADA Policy, and guidelines. In 2023, I built out detection and reporting frameworks. Today, I'm scaling automation, streamlining remediation, and rallying the enterprise around an inclusive mindset.

By applying principles of ownership, bias for action, and deep data-driven analysis, I drove our remediation velocity up by 472% year over year and rolled out a quarterly scorecard that tracks accessibility coverage, issue resolution time, and overall compliance across the enterprise.

A three-year roadmap

Find → Fix → Foster

Action

A large portion of the work centers on making accessibility a seamless part of our product lifecycle. I partnered with design system engineers to ensure every component shipped meets WCAG standards, and I architected a pre-deployment review process in Jira so that accessibility checks occur inside the ticket lifecycle.

By consolidating stakeholder feedback into a single source-of-truth audit map and redefining our Jira ticket templates for clarity and accountability, I've eliminated redundant handoffs and accelerated issue resolution across six core applications.

Automation

To meet our aggressive remediation goals, I designed and built a Python-based scanner that runs on every commit, auditing both desktop and mobile renderings against my curated audit map. I led a company-wide URL mapping project, translating thousands of pages into an organized test suite that's now driven by our CI/CD pipeline.

I also created a script to convert raw XML reports into CSV, enabling seamless import into Jira so every violation becomes an actionable, assignable task. In partnership with DevOps and third-party vendors, we've prototyped gating rules that block merges unless accessibility thresholds are met, laying the groundwork for a truly automated, “shift-left” testing culture.

Advocacy

Accessibility isn't just a checklist, it's a mindset. I actively cultivate across the organization. I host recurring workshops and “office hours” to train UX designers, product managers, and engineers on browser-based testing tools and remediation best practices.

For Global Accessibility Awareness Day, I orchestrated a multi-week campaign featuring expert panels, assistive-technology demos, hands-on design and engineering challenges, and user testimonials.

I also pulled in the amazing folks at Fable to give a demo of their great work and show our digital tech team some accessible technology.

I created a tutorial, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Become an Accessibility Expert Engineer, training up engineers to write accessible code.

I gave my accessibility advocacy presentation "Accessibility in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" at the company-wide Town Hall, emphasizing the importance of accessibility in the corporate culture. Hit the S key on your keyboard to see the speaker notes!

Management

In my Interim Associate Director role, I've balanced strategic leadership with hands-on execution. In 2024, I recruited and onboarded three key team members, pairing each hire with a customized mentorship plan and establishing weekly one-on-one sessions to ensure continuous growth.

I introduced regular design retrospectives to foster transparency and cross-lane collaboration within the UX team.

I spearheaded the “Repaint” tiger team, coordinating five engineering squads through a brand-wide UI overhaul that impacted thousands of code files.

Key Achievements

• Summer Accessibility Awareness Campaign

  Successfully executed a multifaceted campaign with targeted challenges for design and engineering teams, comprehensive training resources, and impactful demonstrations including a notable partnership with Fable to showcase user experiences for non-visual navigation.

• Recognition

  Received the Shine-On Leadership Award, highlighting my dedication to mentorship, team collaboration, and transparency in promoting design maturity and accessibility awareness.

• Accessibility Hub Slack Channel

  Established a thriving internal communication platform dedicated to accessibility, driving continuous engagement, knowledge sharing, and company-wide dialogue.

• Operational Leadership

  Enhanced UX processes within COMMS and ACQ lanes, conducted impactful UX research and stakeholder interviews, and introduced structured methods for defining and scoping Minimum Viable Products (MVPs).

• Design System Development

  Provided essential accessibility consultation and UX guidance for the ongoing development and enhancement of the OMF Design System.

• CI/CD Automation

  Implemented accessibility linting and automated checks within CI/CD pipelines, significantly improving issue detection and resolution speed across multiple development lanes.

Strategic Goals & Roadmap Progress

• Accessibility Reporting Automation

  Assessed and proposed third-party accessibility tools from Deque and Fable for integration, aiming to enhance reporting capabilities and operational transparency.

• Cross-Lane Collaboration

  Successfully formed an Accessibility Action Team to drive cross-functional collaboration and established an email distribution list to maintain ongoing organizational awareness.

• Compliance Initiatives

  Initiated comprehensive audits targeting AA compliance, set to conclude at year-end, ensuring existing sites and applications meet rigorous accessibility standards.

• Workflow Optimization

  Introduced detailed accessibility checklists within Figma templates, implemented essential accessibility plugins, and improved Jira processes to integrate accessibility reviews seamlessly into development workflows.

• Educational Initiatives

  Curated extensive training materials and integrated them into the Accessibility Hub Slack channel, fostering continuous professional development and increased organizational competence in accessibility.

• Accessibility Maturity

  Engaged with Deque for comprehensive accessibility maturity assessment, aiming for Level 3 maturity across multiple organizational dimensions within the next year.

My proactive leadership, strategic vision, and operational excellence continue to position OneMain Financial as an organization deeply committed to inclusive design and superior user experiences.

Accessibility is a universal right for everyone