Alumna’s passion for accessibility brings IT into the future

“I’m one of those forever students,” says UFV alumna Shana Smith (BA ’16). “I just love learning.”

So much so that she didn’t want to leave — after graduating with a major in English and a minor in Media and Communication, she continued on as an employee. Shana now brings her creativity to UFV’s Information Technology Services (ITS) department as a service management analyst. With recent strides in accessibility improvements, the ITS team has revolutionized the way people access their services — making it easier than ever to find what you need and get support.

Through training with the Web Accessibility Initiative , Shana learned that accessibility is essential for some, but beneficial for all. With that in mind, she and systems analyst Mykal Machon made updates to their client portal by increasing contrast and font size for added visibility. They also made it easier for people to use the portal on a phone or accessibility device.

These changes are the result of extensive research. The biggest challenge they discovered was users struggling to find what they’re looking for.

“We really wanted to make it easier for people to access support. For instance, the search button was already there, but we’ve made it a focal point on the page so people can get to what they need quicker.” Shana says.

As an artist with experience in marketing and an interest in accessibility, she describes web design as the perfect combination of all her passions.

“It’s like all the puzzle pieces coming together,” she says. “I get to use all these little pieces of me to create work that benefits everyone.”

While ITS continues to refine its portal, Shana centres her work around the student journey.

“I just love that idea of making things more inclusive. I’m always thinking about the end user,” she notes. “The reason we’re all here at UFV is to get those students across the stage on convocation day. Everything we do is to make their experience at UFV enjoyable. I think that ties so nicely with the user experience and making things accessible to everyone.”

And the updates aren’t over yet.

“What we’ve done so far is just the beginning,” says Shana. “We will be continuing to improve. I think the idea of continuous improvement is so fitting for higher education: we’re always trying to better ourselves.”

To be a part of that change, users can complete the feedback form here and learn more about the updates here.

Guiding these advancements and seeing their impact has been an inspiring opportunity for Shana. She’s especially thankful to collaborate with Mykal (a fellow UFV alumnus) and web content strategist Stephanie Jantzen.

“I steered some of it, but Mykal’s the one who implemented it and I really appreciate that. Stephanie’s feedback and suggestions really helped set the foundation for where we wanted to go.

“I just love seeing the benefit of what we do,” she says. “We’re supporting the systems that support our students.”

Curious about bringing accessibility into your own work? Visit the Teaching and Learning Centre , learn more about accessible design , or watch Stephanie’s Introduction to Web Accessibility .