photo of shawn

Shawn Henry Bio and Photos
for conference programs

Related info: Shawn Lawton Henry at W3C WAI and About Shawn

On this page:

Contact Shawn to get permission to use these bios or photos.

Contact Info

Note: The best way to reach me is to call and leave a message. I will call you back.

Direct telephone: +1.617.395.7664
W3C e-mail: shawn@w3.org
Personal e-mail: shawn@uiAccess.com

Name

First/given: Shawn
Middle: Lawton
Last/family: Henry

For publications, I prefer all three: Shawn Lawton Henry. No hyphens.

For all else�introductions, hotel reservations, etc.�I use just 2: Shawn Henry.

I often use 'shawna-slh' for public accounts to help communicate that I'm a 'cisgender' female. You can call me 'Shawn' or 'Shawna'.

Bios

200 Word Bio

Shawn focuses her personal passion for accessibility on bringing together the needs of individuals and the goals of organizations in designing human-computer interfaces. Her TAdER Project provides research and outreach to better understand users' needs to customize text for readability � specifically, people with low vision, dyslexia, and related conditions that impact reading, including older people. Her book Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design, which is available free online, provides an approach for developing products that are more usable for everyone.

Shawn is Director of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), through Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). She joined W3C in 2003 to lead education and outreach promoting digital accessibility for people with disabilities. Before joining the W3C, she developed and implemented strategies to optimize user interface design for usability and accessibility with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit organizations, education providers, government agencies, international standards bodies, and research centers.

Shawn holds a BSc in English with focus on technical writing and computer science, and an MSc in Digital Inclusion. When not typing on her little laptop, she is often out paddling her long sea kayak.

100 Word Bio A - W3C at front, no informal bit

Shawn is Director of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and leads education and outreach promoting digital accessibility for people with disabilities. Before joining W3C, she developed and implemented strategies to optimize user interface design for usability and accessibility with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit organizations, education providers, and research centers. Shawn focuses her personal passion for accessibility on bringing together the needs of individuals and the goals of organizations in designing human-computer interfaces. Her book Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design provides an approach for developing products that are more usable for everyone.

100 Word Bio B - with MIT and academic

Shawn is Director of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at W3C and leads education and outreach promoting digital accessibility for people with disabilities. She holds a sponsored research staff appointment at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, a BSc in technical writing and computer science, and an MSc in digital inclusion. Shawn focuses her personal passion for accessibility on bringing together the needs of individuals and the goals of organizations in designing human-computer interfaces. Her book Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design provides an approach for developing products that are more usable for everyone.

100 Word Bio C - personal at front, W3C in middle, informal end

Shawn focuses her personal passion for accessibility on bringing together the needs of individuals and the goals of organizations in designing human-computer interfaces. She is Director, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at W3C and leads education and outreach promoting digital accessibility for people with disabilities. She has worked for Fortune 500, nonprofit, education, and research organizations to optimize user interface design for usability and accessibility. Her book Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design provides an approach for developing products that are more usable for everyone. When not typing on her little laptop, Shawn is often paddling her long sea kayak.

54 Word Bio A - WAI second

Shawn focuses her personal passion for accessibility on bringing together the needs of individuals and the goals of organizations in designing human-computer interfaces, including through Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design. Shawn is Director of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at W3C and leads education and outreach promoting digital accessibility for people with disabilities.

54 Word Bio B - WAI first

Shawn is Director of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at W3C and leads education and outreach promoting digital accessibility for people with disabilities.She focuses her personal passion for accessibility on bringing together the needs of individuals and the goals of organizations in designing human-computer interfaces, including through Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design.


Photos

Contact Shawn to get permission to use these photos.

 

photo

caricature of Shawn Henry embracing carrotscropped caricature artist: Len Peralta. about the caricature

photo Photo credit: John F Croston III

 

Photos elsewhere


Up-to-date as of January 2024