In the fight for the ages, Dana Marlowe is fighting against technology barriers and boundaries experienced by people with disabilities. A member of the heavyweight fighting team for close to two decades, Accessibility Partners, Marlowe has been punching out attitudinal barriers towards inaccessible technology. Fighting with gloves full of disability advocacy, she comes out swinging anytime she hears a person can’t access his or her technological devices or products.

Accessibility Partners likes hand to hand combat, meaning that the staff engages in manual testing. While other fighters may employ a more automated strategy, a manual test solution can strike down accessibility issues that software sweepers aren’t able to capture. This comprehensive method packs a mean punch when matched up against websites, hardware, software, mobile apps, documents, and beyond, that don’t include accessible features.

Her biggest challenger right now is mobile technology. Items like smartphones, tablets, and apps are created quickly, and are light on their feet. But, they don’t always factor in accessibility during the creation or deployment. By taking just a quick breather, the fighters at Accessibility Partners can audit them based on the experiences of those who might be Deaf, blind, have low vision, be mobility impaired, have dexterity disabilities, and more.

It’s not always an easy fight. Dana’s been trying for many years to get inaccessible technology on the down and out. Lack of awareness has been her chief opponent in the arena. By working with her teammates, Marlowe doesn’t hold back any punches. Having a company like Accessibility Partners in your corner enables technical products to get tested by prizewinning engineers with disabilities. Accessibility solutions don’t have to be an uphill battle. By making strategic punches and jabs at the developmental level, a product can knockout the competition and reach a wider audience of people with disabilities. Access by a greater audience leads to increased communication and connectivity, which delivers a huge blow to inaccessible options.

Dana’s bouts with inaccessibility will certainly take her into the future, as this fight is far from over. But, she and her team are on the up and up. They’re not taking their gloves off anytime soon.