Accessibility Teams for Assessments

To support the design of accessible products and services in School and VUE Assessments, there are two teams that function as shared accessibility services across these businesses. Sixty-eight percent of these teams are comprised of people with disabilities and are structured as follows:

School Assessment

Accessibility & Accommodations (A&A)

Director: Chelsea Seeley, CPACC

Serves as the primary point person for accessibility within School Assessments. Leads the implementation of plans, initiatives, and issues regarding the accessibility of digital products and services. Responsible for supporting external and internal clients, conducting research and technical discovery, developing and maintaining strategic partnerships, building and strengthening relationships with advocacy organizations, developing training, developing and maintaining web-based resources, and supporting global accessibility efforts.

The Accessibility and Accommodations (A&A) team provides a variety of consultative and technical services to promote accessibility in Pearson assessments and in systems and tools that are used to deliver content to our customers. The A&A team provides guidance on how to best support people who require assessment accommodations by sharing information on how accessibility and accommodations can support a fair and equitable assessment experience.

School Accessibility and Accommodations team members include:
  • Jeff Bernier: Accessibility Engineer
  • Dan Brown, CPACC: Principal Accessibility QA Engineer for School Assessments
  • Karen McRitchie, CPACC: Senior Assistive Technology Specialist for School Assessments / Call Center Liaison
  • Jennifer Ramirez: Accessibility Manager, Customer Experience
  • Andrea Swehosky: Senior Technical Project Manager / Product Technical Liaison for School Assessments
  • Karey Jo Wise, DHS Trusted Tester: Senior Accessibility Quality Assurance Engineer

Accessibility Strategy & Education (ASE)

Director: Brent Bakken

The Accessibility Strategy & Education (ASE) team provides training about what accessibility is, how it improves products, how to address it strategically in daily operations, and how to integrate it into the development life cycle. The ASE team manages external accessibility consultative services, provides custom training, and coordinates and manages the annual Summer Accessibility Institute and the Accessibility Champion Program where Pearson employees are able to receive targeted training about accessibility and disability equity and inclusion. Members of the ASE team work directly with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) working groups to support the development of internationally recognized accessibility standards and newly developed educational resources that support the implementation of the standards.

Accessibility Strategy and Education team members include:
  • Corey Fauble: Senior Project Manager
  • Teenya Franklin: Senior Accessible Materials Specialist
  • Kim Leno, Accessible Materials Specialist
  • Steve Noble: Principal Researcher

Accessibility Research & Efficacy (ARE)

Director: Shari Butler, Ph.D., CPACC

The Accessibility Research and Efficacy (ARE) team provides current and relevant research to drive Pearson’s accessibility efforts to meet our efficacy goals and eliminate risk related to accessibility. The ARE team manages the production of sign language translations of test items, manages film, interpreting, and captioning vendors, conducts annual usability studies, coordinates collaborative research projects with internal and external organizations, and maintains a repository of current research regarding access to information and fair and equitable testing for people with disabilities.

Accessibility Research and Efficacy team members include:
  • Bobby Benefield: Senior Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialist
  • Julie Grisham, M.Ed., MATC, CPACC: Senior Research Specialist
  • Melissa Lago-Jones, M.Ed.: Manager, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services

VUE Assessment

Pearson VUE Accessibility Services

Manager: Matt Robinson, Ed.S., CPACC

Serves as the primary contact for accessibility within Pearson VUE. Oversees a team of accessibility professionals that are responsible for the accessibility review of Pearson VUE products and forms. Provides guidance, support, and solutions to Pearson VUE clients, internal teams, and the assistive technology needs of test takers. Responsible for coordinating research efforts to increase the accessibility of VUE's products and services. Provides consultation services and training for clients who are interested in increasing the accessibility of their exams.

The Pearson VUE Accessibility Services team provides guidance to the company and consultation services to Pearson VUE clients to assist in meeting the accessibility needs of test takers. This team of accessibility experts includes an accessibility quality assurance (QA) team. The QA team conducts accessibility reviews of products and forms and provides guidance to improve the accessibility of the exams that are delivered by Pearson VUE. The QA team includes people with disabilities who are daily assistive technology users.

Pearson VUE Accessibility Services team members include:
  • Joan Lambert, CPACC: Accessibility Manager, Product Experience for VUE Assessments
  • Jo Otterbein: Senior Accessibility Quality Assurance Engineer for School Assessments
  • Kim Smith, ATP: Senior Assistive Technology Specialist for Pearson VUE
  • Levon Spradlin: Senior Accessibility Quality Assurance Engineer for VUE Assessments
  • Desiree Sturdevant, CPACC: Senior Accessibility Quality Assurance Engineer for Blindness Technologies for VUE Assessments

Contact Us

Please use the Contact Us form to reach our team. If you are trying to reach a particular team member, please identify the person in the questions or comments section.