Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Being versatile is key in our fast world, and coming at design challenges through an accessibility lens enables me to assist companies in many areas. As a designer, I turn technical decisions into human ones. I effectively communicate with all business areas; design, technical, business and legal to ensure that any proposed solutions consider everyone's unique needs. ► Available from mid-2026 for: A freelance accessibility consultancy role to advocate, advise, educate and test. I will help your company increase internal knowledge and accessibility maturity level. ► Versatile accessibility consultant with the ability to: • educate designers, front-end developers, UX writers, Product owners, QA and Business on what we can do in these specific roles to reach more customers. • solidify your design system with accessibility considerations to make sure we are not designing barriers for people. • critique concepts and designs to ensure we include more people before committing a line of code. • audit products to locate WCAG violations and issues to improve the experience for people with disabilities. • collaborate with the business to identify strategies to implement long-term accessible solutions. • advocate and take people on the journey with us. By designing solutions that include more people, the business can reach a wider audience, avoid redoing work, strengthen brand reputation, keep up with competitors, avoid legal issues, and more. Ultimately, accessibility is a team sport, everybody has a role to play, and I will guide your business to help build better products for everybody. ► Contact me: Mail: [email protected] Phone: +31 646 591 593 Web: https://deanbirkett.name Calendly, getting to know me: https://calendly.com/deanbirkett/15min
Through accessibility audits, internal workshops or presentations, or working directly on design problems inside a company's design library, I help businesses reach wider audiences, strengthen brand reputation, comply with guidelines and improve experiences. ► Experienced Accessibility Consultant who can: • create accessibility documentation in Design Systems to help teams understand, learn and test • audit products to locate the issues and advise Product, Design and Engineering teams • create or advise on components to ensure that the Design Library outputs compliant solutions • create tailored workshops focused on increasing the internal knowledge of Designers and Copywriters • act as a coach for Designers, Copywriters, Developers, QA/Testers and Product owners • help ensure that every feature delivered by the organisation encapsulates all the information needed to build an accessible experience • bring accessibility from the backlog to become a requirement in the 'definition of done' • collaborate with the business to identify strategies to implement long-term accessible solutions • collaborate with people with disabilities to learn how to remove barriers within the product(s)
I have had the pleasure of speaking at the offices of large recognised companies such as Google and Apple, and also experienced the joy of talking at smaller events and seeing new designers get new insights. Helping people to understand that accessibility is usability is my key goal. I also offer half-day interactive workshops for (UX) designers to get a better understanding of the challenges that we face, and how we can approach our designs differently to ensure we include others. With this new internal knowledge, it not only prevents costly redesigns but it increases a company's reach to include the 15% of people with disabilities. ► A keen educator who can: • increase your Design team's knowledge of accessibility and best practices through a (tailored) in-person or remote workshop • talk at your event about designing through an accessibility lens, usability testing and research tips, selling accessibility into your organisation, and other topics
After spending many years being a ‘UX team of one’ I was able to step in and immediately support teams in a variety of ways, from research and wireframing to usability testing and UI design. ► My skills in this area: • switch seamlessly between strategic thinking and tactical delivery • manage projects from concept to execution • conceptualize ideas into solid, user-centred designs • work collaboratively with internal and external teams • present ideas to key stakeholders
Providing accessibility training for the internal Skyscanner teams and supporting the accessibility efforts in Backpack, Skyscanner's design system.
Working within the Design Systems team, although collaborating throughout other units to help Air France KLM on improving their customer-facing digital products.
Supporting the internal teams with accessibility feedback across a number of key touchpoints, including the website and extension. Auditing, and providing guidance through Jira tickets, enriched with Loom demos to help the internal teams recognise and remove the barriers.
Supporting the internal teams on their accessibility journey, from auditing both design system components and the (m)web experience and the iOS and Android apps. I also supported efforts to improve the internal processes, from design through to development and testing, with the goal of ensuring accessibility considerations are included throughout their processes.