Accessibility initiative
My dad has been fully blind his entire life, and uses adaptive technology like screen readers to use his phone and computer. Growing up watching him use this technology has given me a unique perspective on how important it is to make content universally accessible.
However, it’s important to remember that accessibility isn’t just about screen readers—it includes making content readable to everyone, not just for neurotypical people or native English speakers.
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Throughout my tenure at Lyft, I took on side projects to improve our accessibility experience on top of my normal workload.
How I improved the way we wrote our content:
Created and implemented team standards for how to write accessible content (including alt-text, accessible hyperlinks, etc.)
Advocated for accessibility needs to our Engineering teams to add functionality for alt-text and accessibility hints, resulting in improvements to our content management system to accommodate these functions.
Added alt-text and transcripts to all images and videos in our media library, and added accessibility hints to all our in-app buttons in help content.
How I improved and added content to our app and web help centers:
Revised the information architecture in the apps so that users can quickly and easily find information on accessibility.
Revised the information architecture of the web contact form so that users can easily report discrimination or provide accessibility feedback.
Worked with Lyft’s accessibility specialist to add screen reader tutorials to the web help center.
Added an overview of resources for users with disabilities to the web, and later to both the rider and driver apps.
Added additional content to both the rider and driver apps, such as how to request a ride with a wheelchair-accessible vehicle.