The IT Accessibility Group provides consulting, testing and training on accessibility for staff and faculty at Penn State. The IT Accessibility Group consists of:

Staff Members

Philip Voorhees, ATACP

BS double major in Electronic Media Management and International Relations,  
Assistive Technology Applications Certificate (CSUN ATACP)  
Manager of the IT Accessibility Team.

Highly effective professional with 21 plus years of success bridging the access gap by developing and/or implementing accessibility policy and plans for digital access, instructional access, employee access, communications access and accommodation processes in higher education.

  • Accessibility consultant, evangelist, tester, trainer and presenter at Penn State and national/international conferences. 
  • Author, accessibility policy and procedures. 
  • Co-Chair, Penn State Accessible Technology and Information initiative.
  • Member of Penn State Accessibility Leadership Coordinating Group. 
  • Member, Big Ten Academic Alliance IT Accessibility Group. 
  • Member, Access Technology Higher Education Network. 
  • Member, Association on Higher Education And Disability. 
  • Member, IMS Global Accessibility Community of Practice. 
  • Member, DAISY Consortium Accessible EPub Initiative. 
  • Member, EDUCAUSE Accessibility Constituent Group. 
  • Accessibility/Assistive Technology advisory role for ATHEN, Google, Freedom Scientific, McGraw Hill, Pearson and Macmillan. 

Natalie Harrison

M. Ed., Adult Education
Natalie joined the “A-Team” in early 2020. She brings with her over 15 years of experience in online education, having picked up and honed various knowledge and skills along the way, including:

  • instructional design
  • accessibility and usability
  • project management
  • vendor relationship management

Michelle McManus

M.Ed., Teaching of the Visually Impaired

Member of the Accessibility Team since 2011.

  • Frequent trainer and presenter at Penn State for raising awareness of accessibility issues in information technology, through demonstrations of screen readers.
  • Member, National Federation of the Blind, and President of the local Happy Valley chapter.
  • Blind, a power user of assistive technology.
  • Tests website and application accessibility and usability.

Elizabeth J. Pyatt

Ph.D., Linguistics
Twenty years of experience evangelizing and training in accessibility of information technology.

  • Lead Trainer
  • Presenter at multiple CSUN Accessibilityand Accessing Higher Ground conferences
  • Member of the EPUB in Higher Education working group
  • Production of tactile graphics, alternative descriptions, MathML and 3D printing for STEM instructional materials.
  • Website and application testing.
  • Editor of accessibility.psu.edu.

Tanner Zaffuto

Tester with knowledge of multiple testing strategies.

  • Recent Graduate and former intern from South Hills School of Business and Technology.
  • Proficient in both visual and screen reader testing methods.

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Last Update: April 8, 2024