JOHN WALKER 

About Me

As a Lead Accessible Product Designer with over 20 years of UX/UI experience and eight years specializing in accessibility, I combine strategic vision with hands-on execution to deliver inclusive digital experiences for new and existing products. I focus on creating scalable design systems that prioritize usability and accessibility. I excel in defining product vision, shaping roadmaps, and driving cross-functional collaboration to develop innovative solutions for diverse user needs. My leadership has resulted in transformative projects; recently, this has included redesigning Versant (a testing app used by Amazon), consulting on two AI-powered educational tools, and creating a global design system. I have helped launch over 30 products and spearheaded accessibility initiatives that have improved experiences for diverse user groups across international markets. I am a Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) certified by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals.

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Key Capabilities

• Align cross-functional teams on strategies, priorities, and outcomes for holistic design systems

• Deep knowledge of WCAG, ADA, and EAA accessibility standards

• Leading accessibility initiatives across product lifecycles

• Develop personas, end-to-end user journeys, and process flows to empathize with diverse needs

• Design intuitive information architecture, wireframes, and prototypes validated by usability testing

• Create engaging user experiences for complex, information-dense interfaces

• Manage responsive web and native mobile products, with over 30 successful launches for consumer, B2B, and enterprise audiences

• Facilitate user research and interactive prototype testing using diverse qualitative and quantitative data methods

• Ensure visual fidelity through adherence to brand standards and contemporary design trends

• Communicate concepts effectively with excellent storytelling and presentation skills

• Extensive mobile experience across iOS, Android, and responsive web platforms

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Work History

Lead UX & Accessibility Consultant  |  Pearson  |  12/2022-

Collaborating on a Global Design System

• Designing an accessible component library

• Defining accessibility standards

• Consulting with developers on implementation

• Mentoring designers and developers around accessibility standards

• Consulting on product development for an AI-powered “human” tutor

• Defining accessibility standards for a real-time, chatbot-style user experience

• Providing annotations to developers for proper implementation

Redesigned Versant, a testing app used by Amazon globally

• Established a reusable, fully accessible component library

• Executed a full visual redesign

• Mitigated 100+ existing accessibility issues flagged by third-party surveys

• Ran usability testing sessions with screen reader users

• Collaborated with developers to properly implement and QA accessible components

• Mentored design team on accessibility standards and design strategies

 

Design System Manager  |  Ernst & Young Design Studio  |  03/2021- 08/2022

Co-founded a Global Design System for more than 30 teams at Comcast

• Partnered with Comcast’s lead designer to create robust library components for the new Design System

• Collaborated with individual teams on their custom component needs

• Consulted with developers on overall implementation

• Educated designers and developers about accessible standards and implementation strategies

Developed site maps, information architecture, and UX for an iOS/Android app

• Facilitated design critiques and stakeholder feedback sessions

• Created prototypes to validate designs via user testing

• Guided offshore teams to build and ship solutions within Agile sprints

 

Lead UX/Accessibility Consultant  |  AllianceBernstein  |  01/2019-02/2021

Collaborated on a Global Design System

• Ran UX research interviews to formulate design opportunities

• Collaborated with visual designers to integrate ADA compliance into our design patterns

Designed/redesigned entire websites and features for diverse audiences from Australia to Hong Kong

Launched corporate accessibility practice

• Responsible for evaluating accessibility compliance of consumer and enterprise websites

• Developed and implemented accessibility mitigation solutions based on third-party surveys

• Coached teams from product, content, design, and engineering to create accessible experiences

 

UX/UI Consultant  |  Companies such as Deutsche Bank, MetLife, American Express;

agencies such Grey, Story Worldwide, Blue State  |  2013 – 2014, 2016 – 2018

Vice President, UX Design Lead  |  JPMorgan Chase & Co.  |  06/2016 – 06/2017

UX/UI & Visual Design Lead  |  Guardian Life Insurance  |  06/2014 – 06/2016

iOS/Android Art Director  |  Popular Mechanics  |  07/2010 – 02/2013 

Creative Director  |  TV Guide & tvguidemagazine.com  |  03/2004 – 12/2009

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Technical Skills

Design Tools   

• Figma, Sketch, Adobe CC, Principle

Development Skills   

• HTML/ARIA/CSS/JavaScript, React Native, Swift, Storybook

Accessibility Standards       

• WCAG 2.2, ADA, EAA, EN 301

Assistive Technologies        

• NVDA, VoiceOver, JAWS, TalkBack, ZoomText, Microsoft 365

Accessibility Testing Tools

• Axe DevTools, Lighthouse, WAVE, Microsoft 365  ​​​​​

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Certifications

• Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) from the IAAP, 2025

• Front-End Web Development Certification, 2015

• Agile for Teams Certification, 2014