William Lawrence

What I’m Looking For

Challenging the complicated solutions to the simplest problems and working with the standards to meet the compliance.

Summary of Qualifications

Document handling and media management has been the mainstay of my diet for over 20 years. Providing access to those documents and media for people of all abilities is a priority. When taking that to the Internet, a very uncertain environment, a workday is ripe with aspects of certainty. Creating accessible environments leading to content that is easy to consume is what I do all day: engineering the semantics of interaction.

Development & User Interface Skills

My Best Practices & Standards:

Accessibility, Section 508, PAS 78, W3C, WCAG, Progressive Enhancement, Quality Assurance, Research, Semantic Markup, Web Standards

What I do:

Accessibility Auditing, Product Development, Front-End Development, Information Architecture, Document Design, Information Design, Prototyping, Wireframing, Usability, User-Centered Design, User Interface, Content management system

What I know:

• Accessibility Standards: Section 508, WCAG 1.0, WCAG 2.0
• User Interface Markup Languages: HTML 4.01, HTML 5, XHTML 1.0, XHTML 1.1, CSS1, CSS2, CSS2.1, CSS3, DTD, XML, XSL
• Content Syndication Markup Languages: Atom, OPML, RSS
• Lightweight Markup Languages: Textile, Wikitext, BBCode
• Web Frameworks: Drupal, Fusebox, jQuery, Ruby on Rails, Smarty, Yahoo! UI Library

Professional Work History

• Senior Section 508 Specialist with Glynn Technologies at United States Department of Health and Human Services, Washington DC USA

  January 2009 to Present

  • Consulting with the US government providing Section 508 and functional accessibility assessments and remediation for web content and web content authoring applications
  • Review, audit, analyze, train, educate, research, elucidate everything Section 508 for all of HHS

• Semantic Engineer at 12seconds.tv, Santa Cruz CA USA

  January 2008 to January 2009

  • Manage the development for all phases of the UI web application development from requirements gathering, cross browser testing, and production deployment.
  • Facilitate design walkthroughs with team to validate the user interface against requirements and information architecture
  • Write code based on functional specification and technical design; adhere to development techniques and standards.
  • Keep up to date on new technologies and offer analysis of present or future benefit to end-users.

• Product Manager & Evangelist at Quiddities Dev Inc, Santa Cruz CA USA

  September 2006 to January 2009

  • Ensure all USA clients' projects are compliant with § 1194.22 of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and all others to adhere to the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
  • Audit, create, and maintain Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPAT) and accessibility statements in compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
  • Speak at conferences and technology meetups to increase the awareness and improve the perception of Web accessibility and standards
  • Actively promoting the benefits of Internet technology to local communities.
  • Manage projects, setting priorities and measurable objectives, monitoring and reporting on the process, progress, and results
  • Review business requirements, ensure clarity, and establish expectations for services requested

• Senior Web Developer at Quiddities Dev Inc, Santa Cruz CA USA

  January 2002 to January 2009

  • Ensure all USA clients' projects are compliant with § 1194.22 of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and all others to adhere to the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
  • Responsible for client interface and providing consulting services focused on developing the client’s web presence aligned to their branding and media strategy
  • Directly responsible for helping the client organize a broad set of information and data, develop a set of clear, user requirements, build prototypes of website for user acceptance, and drive final website design
  • Proficient at creating and deploying easy to navigate websites with fully accessible content, excellent data management, and complex interactions
  • Developed custom standards-compliant content management systems
  • Utilized open-source applications to reduce time and costs in required by needs

• Consultant at Irenology.org, Osijek CROATIA

  February 2000 to December 2004

  • Technical consultant for non-profits focused on building web presence to promote democracy and to assist in building democratic institutions
  • Advocated and educated organizations and individuals throughout Eastern Croatia, Croatia's ethnically most diverse war-affected region, on harnessing the Internet as a means to bring peace into their communities.
  • Designed web marketing plan and built a series of websites for community organizations that supported the reconstruction effort
  • Developed best practices models for deploying accessible web sites with separating content (HTML), presentation (CSS), and behavior (JavaScript)

• Document Analyst with Adecco at Lockheed Martin, Bethesda MD USA

  December 1998 to January 2000

  • Responsible for Y2K testing the PeopleSoft Human resource management systems software platform throughout all divisions of Lockheed Martin
  • Increased customer appreciation by writing successful test specifications and user documentation, monitoring test execution and managing the on-going testing and quality assurance
  • Project managed the support for software engineering teams by maintaining technical databases, generated thorough testing documentation, and coordinated computerized support systems testing
  • Drove the development of testing processes and delivered testing software, data analysis, and maintained documentations logs for during the assessment of several internal systems supporting Human Resources, Payroll and Compensation, and Employee Benefits
  • Developed clear, replicable methods to meet technical data requirements and prepared technical analyses and reports to ensure full transparency of ongoing testing and process improvements

Presentations

• Drupal & the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines

  2009 March 06

  Washington DC USA

  Presentation session at Drupalcon Washington DC 2009

• Accessibility Best Practices in Drupal Theming

  2008 August 29

  Szeged HUNGARY

  Presentation session at Drupalcon Szeged Hungary 2008

• Microformats and Transit

  2008 February 24

  Palo Alto CA USA

  Demonstration at Bay Area TransitCamp

• Parkbench Chat About Web Standards and Accessibility

  2008 January 4

  Berkeley CA USA

  Interview with Dave Olson of Raincity Studios

• :focus in accessibility

  2007 November 3

  Berkeley CA USA

  Talk at Bay Area Drupal Camp 2007

Volunteer Work History

• Research Associate at the Coalition for Work with Psychotrauma and Peace, Vukovar CROATIA

  2000 – 2003

  • Worked in post-conflict environment advocating for the support of psychological assistance
  • Prepared funding proposals for projects involving issues of health, especially the widespread psychotraumatization of the population and its effects on the rebuilding of society and the prevention of future conflict.
  • Communicated with the general public, scholars, donors, and others regarding information, data, and research generated from the Complex Rehabilitation in conflict and post-conflict areas.
  • Designed web sites with accessibility and universal access as a constant standard and best practice.

• Election Observer with The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Zagreb CROATIA

  2000 – 2000

  • Monitored, assisted, and advised in democratic institution-building and reconciliation in post-conflict environment
  • Liaised with local authorities and NGOs to draft observations.
  • Interviewed voters, media, opposition parties, and Municipal Election Committees
  • Reported fairness and infractions to ODHIR and OSCE.

• Research Assistant at the Bancaja International Center for Peace and Development, Castelló SPAIN

  1997 – 1997

  • Consultant support to incoming and outgoing Professors in translation, research, drafting, and academic events.
  • Edited research journals and books on international security issues.
  • Developed specialized bibliographic database system for cataloguing academic journals in both English and Spanish.

• Legal Assistant with The American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, Vermont USA

  1995 – 1998

  • Evaluated and recorded incoming complaints regarding violations of civil liberties.
  • Prepared cases to be submitted to the Legal Advisory Panel.
  • Researched related legislation, including LexisNexis
  • Networked with cooperating attorneys and reviewed for litigation
  • Sorted out the difference between what is and what isn't a public issue or a private problem.

• Producer/Public Service Director at WGDR 91.1 FM, Vermont USA

  1994 – 1998

  • Contributed to the station's first web presence, and published relevant and timely content on the website and the intranet
  • Responsible for organizing and delivering non-commercial Public Service Announcements (PSAs)
  • Produced and hosted radio programs and conducted public interest interviews in the studio and in the field
  • Carried out the tradition of being responsible with the public trust.

Education

• MA, International Relations, 1999

  Universitat Jaume I, Castelló SPAIN

• BA, Political Science, 1998

  Goddard College, Vermont USA

Military History

• Administrative Clerk in the United States Marine Corps, Port Hueneme CA USA & Okinawa JAPAN

  September 1988 to September 1992

  Every organization needs a clerk. Everyone ought to be a clerk for some time.

  • Worked in administrative team responding to the needs of over 300 Marines and their dependents
  • Maintained records and service manuals and conducted financial and housing counseling
  • Activated during the Persian Gulf Crisis and deployed for service with the 3rd Marine Division in Japan
  • Conducted ongoing audits of field service records, verifying information contained in unit diary feedback reports/personnel management reports, preparation of discharge and retirement documents, and verifying the accuracy of information contained in the MCTFS databases
  • Developed expertise in the Marine Corps Total Force System (MCTFS), The Privacy Act of 1974, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Additional Information

Languages

• English (Native proficiency)
• Croatian (Limited working proficiency)
• German (Limited working proficiency)
• Spanish (Limited working proficiency)

Interests

Imagery, Kitchens, Identity, Language, Bicycling, Semantics, Open Markets, Fixing Things, Public Policy, Old Clock Towers, Baking Chocolate Cakes, Mechanical Desktop Typewriters, Standards & Accessibility in Everything, and My Family.