Joel Crawford-Smith

I'm Joel Crawford-Smith. I have played multiple roles in my career including Front-end Developer, User Experience Designer, and Drupal Developer. My past experience both UX and development helps bring a "big picture" point of view to my current job as a Senior Web Accessibility Administrator.

Experience

Web Accessibility

link is external Web accessibility is my life. I fight to make the world inclusive so everyone can have equal access to the web. I had been working in the field to some extent for a decade. In 2020, I earned my Web Accessibility Specialist certification (WAS link is external) and Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) link is external through the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP link is external). Through these certifications I have earned the designation of Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA).

User Experience

link is external Human factors and user experience was a gateway drug to accessibility. When you know accessibility and user experience you realize that anything good for accessibility is also great for user experience. Before my full dive into web accessibility I was a User Experience Designer so naturally I wanted to get my Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) link is external.

Drupal Cult Member

link is external Drupal is my favorite content management system (CMS). My full time Accessibility analyst role has not entirely tore me away from my first love, Drupal. I am still a Drupal 8 Certified Site Builder link is external. Duke University relies on Drupal, so keeping my skills sharp is important to me.

Frequently asked questions

Why do you bother with certifications?

No matter now much you think you know about a topic, a certification shows you blind spots in knowledge that you never knew you had. That is why I am such a huge fan of getting certifications. It's for me to be better at what I do.

Do you do speaking engagements?

I used to present at Meetups and conferences on a more regular basis. Now I am focused on my colleages at Duke. I do about 12 trainings a year on web accessibility fundamentals, web accessibility for developers, mobile app accessibility and Acrobat/InDesign/PDF accessibility.

If you have a need for an accessibility presenter let me know and maybe we can work something out.

How does someone get into the web accessibility industry?

Become the SME (Subject Matter Expert) at your company on accessibility. It doesn't take much to be the defacto expert when nobody else cares. There will be a point when you need to speak up. Be sure to reference specific WCAG criteria when the topic is broached so that you are referencing facts. Reference the guidelines so it is backed up by fact and not just an opinion. Also keep in mind that people need to know "Why" they need to do it. Balance the facts with pulling heartstrings so people will request your input, rather than run away. Speak truth with love.

Contact info?

Note I am not actively looking for a job so please mention you are not a recruiter. DM me on LinkedIn or Twitter

How did I get here?

Early in my career I became the Subject Matter Expert (SME) on accessibility when nobody else was. The further I went down the rabbit hole, the more doors opened up. Plus, being at the right place at the right time with.

1998 - Started coding with Macromedia Director and Flash
2001 - Graduated with B.S. in Management in Information Systems
2003 - Transitioned away from Flash into HTML/CSS web development
2006 - Earned an ACA in Dreamweaver 8, and ACE in Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Acrobat 7 Pro
2007 - Early adopter of CSS3 and HTML5 and wrote many JS poly-fills for legacy browsers like IE6
2010 - Created my first fully 508 compliant website in 2010
2011 - Jumped on the responsive web design band wagon
2011 - Got my first hit of Drupal (Thanks John Venable)
2012 - Earned my CUA certification from Human Factors International
2017 - Became Duke Universities Senior Web Accessibility Administrator for public facing websites
2017 - Earned my Drupal 8 Certified Site Builder from Acquia
2020 - Earned my IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist certification
2021 - Earned my IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies