I had the pleasure of working with Martha in my capacity as CIO of Northwestern Mutual. Martha proved to be a passionate and effective advocate for accessibility at the company, both for our products and for our employee experiences. She took a multi-faceted approach to education and advocacy, creating programs, working with compliance, and bringing in outside perspectives to help us move forward on our accessibility journey!
– Neal Sample, Chief Information Officer Northwestern Mutual
Martha M. Kendler, MBA, CPACC
I’m energized about helping businesses reach more people from implementing strategies to increase accessibility.
Accomplished in building a business case and securing executive buy-in on plans to launch a successful disability inclusion and awareness program, digital accessibility projects, and enriching employee culture alongside business outcomes. Skilled at connecting people and resources to gain synergies and build highly productive organizations. Four years as an impact leader of Northwestern Mutual’s Employee Resource Group for Disability Alliance with 400 members, earning recognition as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion.
Martha is a Board Member of Disability:IN Wisconsin and a member of IAAP. She is a Certified Professional of Accessibility Core Competencies.
Martha’s first inspiration for the vision and mission of Product Accessibility LLC came from her sister, Becca. Becca used an audio product from the National Library Service for the Blind. Becca’s vision wasn’t the barrier. She used the Talking-Book player because it worked well with her cognitive abilities. The success she had inspired their parents to read her textbooks to an audio recorder for her use. Becca has been a successful pre-school teacher’s assistant for years helping hundreds of young children. She earned her Associates Degree in early childhood education using this technique.
Speaker
Martha has designed and facilitated employee events in-person and virtually. Product Accessibility’s “Disability and Accessibility Fundamentals” is a great level setting experience for businesses of all sizes.
Martha was part of a professional panel at the 2019 National Disability:IN Conference in Chicago, IL. She spoke about her leadership at Northwestern Mutual as Chair, disABILITY Alliance Employee Resource Group and her role on a team that completed the Disability Equality Index Survey from 2017 – 2020. Northwestern Mutual earned Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion (Score 90% 2018, Score 100% 2019 – 2020) for their investment in people and programs.
Check out this engaging and thoughtful video series by Microsoft Story Labs on disability power and inclusion.
About IAAP
Accessibility professionals from around the world come together to define, promote and improve the accessibility profession through networking, education and certification.
Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies
The IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) credential is IAAP’s foundational certification, representing broad, cross-disciplinary conceptual knowledge about 1) disabilities, 2) accessibility and universal design, and 3) accessibility-related standards, laws, and management strategies.
Product Accessibility LLC 