Julianna Rowsell

Preferred Pronouns: She/Her; They/Them

I am Julianna Rowsell, a Senior Inclusive Designer and Accessibility Lead with the Canadian Digital Service. I’ve worked in accessibility within the public service for more than a decade. I have ADHD, anemia, and ankylosing spondylitis. I am a storyteller. I share stories to help empower others to co-create more equitable futures. I am a passionate advocate for inclusive design and delivery of services through socially responsible policy.

I am a maker and translator of things to help enable a society where everyone can thrive. My best work happens when I work with people and their communities to co-design engaging experiences. I look for projects where I can design with purpose, matching strategic goals to people\’s needs. I design to improve lives, reduce barriers, and build up communities in an effort to create more equitable experiences. I help to create simple, easy to use accessible and inclusive services for Canadians by partnering with other government departments. I am heavily involved in the accessibility community and co-organized a11yYoW, I sit on an interdepartmental government working group on accessibility, have previously been an invited expert with the W3C for the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group. I am currently pursuing my Masters in Inclusive Design at OCAD.

Read more about Julianna’s talk here: “Team Approaches to Accessible and Inclusive Design: A case study on the COVID Alert app and Healthcare Portal“