Why Dominique is dedicated to digital access for all

Dominique Loulie was born with hearing loss and has faced challenges most of us can't even imagine.

So when he graduated from Academy Xi's course on creating user-friendly and visually appealing digital experiences, it was a moment of immense pride for him.

As well as support from peers, mentors and trainers he completed the course with the help of assistive technology, enabling him to perform tasks that might otherwise be difficult or impossible.

“This is why I’m so passionate about digital accessibility and inclusion,” said Dominique. “I’ve lived through these challenges, and I want to make things easier for others too.”

Education and awareness with OZeWAI

Amanda Mace, Co-Chair of OZeWAI, and Dominique Loulie, Inclusive Design Project Coordinator at Ability Works, are both passionate about improving digital accessibility.

Today, Dominique is an Inclusive Design Projects Coordinator at Ability Works Australia, an award-winning social enterprise in Kew, Melbourne. In this role, he combines design and technology to solve customer challenges, while prioritising accessibility and inclusivity.

Amanda Mace, Co-Chair of OZeWAI, and Dominique Loulie, Inclusive Design Project Coordinator at Ability Works, are both passionate about improving digital accessibility.

“Most companies are starting to prioritise these issues and while progress is being made, there’s still a lot of work to do,” he said. “We need more education and awareness because many products and services still aren’t fully accessible.”

One organisation making a real difference in this area is the Australian Web Accessibility Initiative, or OZeWAI. OZeWAI is the professional association for Australian digital accessibility specialists and organisations.

“OZeWAI exists because we recognise that design decisions can either enable and include people or disable and exclude them, particularly those with permanent disabilities,” says Amanda Mace, Co-Chair of OZeWAI and Vice-President of GrackleDocs.

Innovation with accessibility

Amanda has spent her career advocating that it is everyone's job to do their bit to remove barriers so all people can have equal access and equal opportunity to the digital world.

“I truly believe that innovation with accessibility built into it provides security, independence, and privacy for people with disabilities and better, more usable digital products and services for all,” she said.

To help organisations, OZeWAI offers a suite of networking, education, research and certification programs and hands-on practical guidance from individuals with lived experience and lived expertise of accessibility.

Digital equality

Meanwhile, the digital future looks bright for Dominique. Earlier this year he completed 320 hours of training and hands-on experience with front-end programming languages, frameworks and tools.

He was also awarded a scholarship to study with Deque University in the USA, where he will continue to build his skills as an accessibility specialist and help bring Australia closer to digital equality.

**We’re committed to making our work digitally accessible and are delighted that OZeWAI is helping us to achieve this. Find out how OZeWAI can support your organisation.