Intro email

Hi everyone,

My name's Jade, I'm the newest member of the EOWG, here's a little bit about myself.

I lead the Accessibility and Usability Evaluation team at the Open University in the UK. We're responsible for the accessibility and usability of all the centralised student facing systems for our diverse range of students and make sure that we're meeting and responding to their changing digital requirements. We're a new and growing team and we represent a small part of the accessibility network here at the OU. The work of the EOWG really aligns with some of the work my team does to lead on the strategic direction of accessibility as well as putting together training and guidance and acting as a centre of expertise. I'm really enjoying the role so far, there are some great people here who have a real passion for all things accessibility which makes it a really motivating environment to work in.

I have quite a broad background in accessibility. In a former life I was a teacher and teacher trainer and worked in many different countries and contexts. I encountered students with disabilities while teaching but was really able to specialise in this area when I started working for Cambridge Assessment. I looked after a number of different qualifications, courses, and projects, and making these inclusive for candidates and learners was a large part of my work there.

Outside of work, I'm just putting the final touches to a MA in SEND (I say final touches but I'll still need a fair few caffeine-fuelled evenings before I can finally hand it all in!) and I'm putting some ideas together to continue studying next year. I often find myself involved with lots of interesting side projects; from training sign language teachers, to transcribing Braille - I'm always up for getting involved, learning, and meeting new people along the way.

It was great to meet some of you at the meeting earlier, I'm really looking forward to contributing to the group as well as learning from you all.

Have a great weekend,

Jade


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Jade Matos Carew | Senior Product Development Manager (Accessibility and Usability)
Online Student Experience | Learning Experience and Technology (LXT), CIO Portfolio
The Open University, Level 7 Perry, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
Tel: +44 (0) 1908 6 52920
Pronouns: she/her/hers
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