Leanna Manning, Accessibility Consultant
Helping people and organizations celebrate diversity by breaking down communication barriers and contributing positively to community growth and well-being
As leaders in your industry, you understand and value the importance of accessible communication and how that aligns with your own organizational values. You have a message to share that you want to be accessible, but you’re not quite sure how to achieve that in a way that feels genuine and authentic while still maintaining your underlying mission.
As a private or public sector organization, you’re keen to address and improve the accessibility of your language and messaging. You also understand that it’s not just as simple as changing a few words here and there. You want to get it right, because you believe it needs to be right.
Well, I’d love to help you with that.
Hi, I’m Leanna Manning (she/they)
I’m an accessibility consultant based in BC, Canada, who helps support businesses and organizations to deliver accessible and inclusive messaging as part of their overall communications.
I do this through my own lived experience of disability and divergence and the realization that I have felt out-of-place and different for most of my life. Everything I bring to my work today has been learned and developed through my own personal journey over the last 10+ years.
Leanna Manning, a multiply neurodivergent and disabled person. She has green eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. Leanna wears a red, green, and blue floral jacket. Photo by Hayf Photography.
A lifetime of experiences have brought me to where I am now
As a late-identified neurodivergent person, I look back now and realize it’s something I’ve embraced throughout my life. Every piece of my history offers another part to the puzzle that makes me who I am, and I find myself including everything I’ve learned in what I do now.
Things like:
My love of colour and art
My teaching experience and love of playing “teacher” as a child
Working with people from equity-deserving communities from a young age
Being surrounded by entrepreneurs and business owners most of my life
All these things came together in the best way imaginable— coupled with an early understanding that accessibility relates not only to who I am but to everything I do.
I approach every project as an accessibility consultant from a place of curiosity and creativity to find unique approaches that work for each of my clients.
I love Leanna’s clarity in speech and in action,
her ability to kick back and have a laugh and appreciate the humour in life, her enthusiasm for being alive, and [her] sensitivity to the finer dimensions of life.
— Chloe, Copywriter & Content Marketer
Some of my credentials and qualifications include:
Lived experience of disability and neurodivergence
Self-teaching and mentorships from folks in the community: Sheri Byrne-Haber, Iva Cheung, Alexa Heinrich, Chad Chelius and Dax Castro, among many others
Bachelor of Design, OCAD University
Certified Product Marketer, Pragmatic Institute
I’ve worked with
Foundational values
Community
I’m dedicated to building social inclusion and actively challenging social and systemic barriers that restrict accessibility.
Integrity
With integrity, I uphold a strong moral compass and ensure transparency and reciprocity in all my actions.
Growth
I believe in growth, both professionally and personally, by always learning from diverse perspectives.
Above all else, I prioritize the well-being of the people I work with and the communities I serve, by helping to build a culture of accessibility and positive impact.
Mixed media artwork with purples and pops of yellow and orange, combining paint strokes, shapes, and pencil lines.
Your vision and values matter
Which is why I want to help you to develop clear, accessible, and equitable communications that are understood by as many people as possible.
It’s my aim to help you confidently navigate connecting to your audience in a way that builds community.
Ways to work with me
If you’d prefer to learn more, read some of my blog posts about accessible communication. And I’d love to connect with you on social media. You can find me on LinkedIn and Instagram.