“Making small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me,” shared Reading graduate Emma Deshields on why accessibility is important, and how her time at Reading set her up for her career.
Emma, who studied psychology at Reading, is a Senior Customer Success Manager at Verbit – a verbal intelligence platform that aims to help make classrooms, workplaces and online environments more accessible.
Talking about her role at Verbit, she said: “Not only is accessibility a legal requirement in many countries, it’s something that we all dip our toes into on a day-to-day basis even if we don’t realise it. Every time you turn the captions on when watching Netflix, or view the description on a YouTube video, you are using accessibility features.
“These features are essential in enabling a person with disabilities to enjoy content in the same way as others.
“Accessibility means we all have the same opportunities, and it’s important that we all advocate for accessibility, when possible, because sadly it is not always the standard.”
Making content accessible
After graduation Emma began her career as a typist, and it was during this time that her interest in accessibility was first sparked.
She said: “I was passionate about making sure that the transcripts I created were accurate for clients, to ensure their content was accessible to a wider audience. As I worked my way up in the company, I began working directly with individuals on their accessibility needs.
“Now, in my current role I work with my clients to ensure a range of accessibility features are incorporated, including captioning, transcription, audio description, translation and dubbing.
“I work with people from all walks of life, from individuals to legal companies, and even large media clients.”
Emma shared her top tips for making content more accessible. She said: “Some things are more obvious. For example, make sure you are captioning any videos that you upload to social media, and ensure any images you upload include alt text, to allow users with screen readers access.
“Other things are less obvious. For example, QR codes are not accessible to users with low vision, so you could consider using an alternative. In addition, audio description for people who are blind or have low vision is rarely used, but is a key component of accessibility so this feature could be used more.”
Learning fundamental concepts
Emma shared how her time at Reading prepared her for her career and gave her a fundamental understanding of individual needs, which is essential for accessibility. She said:
“Studying psychology at Reading set me up perfectly for my career. I’ve always wanted to help people and I’m interested in how our environment and upbringing can impact our day-to-day lives, alongside the structure and anatomy of the brain.
“I learnt about linguistics and hearing which prepared me well for an accessibility role, where audio support is one of the key components.
“Not only did my degree teach me skills I need every day in my role, but it also provided insight into how different individuals are. Everyone faces challenges every day, often unseen and regularly unacknowledged, and accessibility aims to tackle that and level the playing field for all.”
Making small changes
Emma is grateful to be working in a role which she finds rewarding and enables her to make a difference to people’s lives.
She said: “I find my role especially rewarding when I get to work with the end users who are benefitting from access to content that they didn’t have before.
“Making small changes in the world to improve it for others is what motivates me. Plus, being at the forefront of technology and learning new things every day means I never have a boring day at work.
“My goal is to live a life that I’m happy with, and I aim to do that by helping people. My role at Verbit enables me to do that and I hope I can continue innovating and making accessibility more accessible and affordable for everyone.”
Read how another Reading graduate is advocating for accessibility at the University of Reading.
