Accessibility Team for Assessments

To support the design of accessible products and services, School and VUE Assessments have come together to form a dedicated accessibility team that functions as a shared service across these two businesses. Sixty-eight percent of this team is comprised of people with disabilities and is structured as follows:

Cross-functional support

VP, Accessibility: Jan McSorley, CPACC

Leads the Accessibility Team for Assessments and serves as the primary point person for the Assessments business on 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.

Accessibility Engineer: Jeff Bernier

Provides accessibility support and training for team members and other Pearson employees. Develops, enhances, and maintains the team’s website to provide accessibility resources and training, as well as a mechanism to request support from the Accessibility Team for Assessments

Director, Accessibility Implementation: Mike Paciello

Responsible for strategic planning related to the implementation of accessibility guidelines, specifications, and best practices. Coordinates key partnerships to facilitate Pearson's continuous improvement in accessibility. Evaluates internal business processes and coordinates process revisions to improve efficiencies. Organizes technical discovery initiatives to determine how to integrate emerging technologies into accessible solutions. Serves as a subject matter expert and advisor to executive leadership on the accessibility industry landscape and how best to leverage business partnerships, legislative initiatives, accessibility guidelines and specifications, and technical innovations to support equity and inclusion for people with disabilities.

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:

  • Teenya Franklin: Senior Accessible Materials Specialist
  • Corey Fauble: Senior Project Manager / Braille Production Specialist
  • Steve Noble: Senior Accessibility Instructional Designer
  • Kim Leno, Accessible Materials Specialist

Accessibility & Accommodations (A&A)

Director: Chelsea Seeley, CPACC

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.

Accessibility and Accommodations team members include:

  • Jennifer Ramirez: Accessibility Manager, Customer Experience
  • Andrea Swehosky: Senior Technical Project Manager / Product Technical Liaison for School Assessments
  • Karen McRitchie, CPACC: Senior Assistive Technology Specialist for School Assessments / Call Center Liaison
  • Joan Lambert, CPACC: Accessibility Manager, Product Experience for VUE Assessments
  • Matt Robinson, Ed.S., CPACC: Accessibility Manager / Candidate Escalations, Client Engagement for VUE Assessments
  • Kim Smith, ATP: Senior Assistive Technology Specialist for Pearson VUE
  • Anthony Fernando, CPWA: Director, Accessibility Compliance
  • Dan Brown, CPACC: Senior Accessibility Quality Assurance Engineer for Blindness Technologies for School Assessments
  • Jo Otterbein: Senior Accessibility Quality Assurance Engineer for School Assessments
  • Desiree Sturdevant, CPACC: Senior Accessibility Quality Assurance Engineer for Blindness Technologies for VUE Assessments
  • Levon Spradlin: Senior Accessibility Quality Assurance Engineer for VUE Assessments
  • Karey Jo Wise, DHS Trusted Tester: Senior Accessibility Quality Assurance Engineer

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:

  • Julie Grisham, M.Ed., MATC, CPACC: Project Manager / Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialist
  • Melissa Lago-Jones: Manager, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services
  • Bobby Benefield: Senior Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialist

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.