If a feature of a website separates audiences, particularly those with disabilities, Catharine McNally views it with a critical eye to find better solutions. While communicating this to web developers, she works collaboratively towards solutions that can be implemented on a site. This process is what makes McNally a forward-thinking accessibility and usability expert. As a Quality and Accessibility Analyst at Phase2 Technology, McNally uses her process-driven and strategic approach to provide clients and the community with the confidence to develop inclusive and user-friendly content on both the backend and frontend of a web platform.
McNally is a dedicated advocate for using technology to bridge the accessibility divide -- she's constantly finding new uses for accessibility. Such as discovering that Twitter can be an accessibility tool, or an audio guide can be turned into a captioned, video guide accessed from an iPhone. Her influential work has been recognized through national leadership awards, honors, and national publications. In 2011, McNally was listed as "People to Watch" in the Washingtonian Magazine's Tech Titans feature, and the recipient of the American Association of People with Disabilities national leadership award.
posted on 1 May 12
Last summer, while sitting in the East Room of the White House, I discovered that Twitter can help me hear. This experience shed light on the parallels to the principles of Open Source technology: You never know how someone may find an innovative use for existing solutions for social, human, and/or environmental good.
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