Employee Spotlight: Matt Hladky

Matt is a Senior 508 Test Engineer. He has taken initiative by being the sole 508 testing resource Makpar has on two of our federal projects. His passion for constant learning and his positive attitude is an inspiration to us all. Management is very proud to spotlight him this month. Congratulations, Matt!

Get to know him better with this Q&A: 

🖇 How did you come to join Makpar?  How have you grown in your time here?🖇

I joined in 2019 as Senior 508 Test Engineer. I started out on a project at the IRS, to start testing and learn this new application. I went from there to now being the sole 508 testing resource we have on two of our Federal projects. We made one project almost entirely 508 compliant. With our other project, we're currently at zero open 508 items.

🖥 508 Testing 🖥

I've been passionate about it for 15 years or so. I like it because you're able to be a spokesperson for people with disabilities and make software accessible to them. My passion evolved over the years from the functional side to now in the last 6 years I've been 100% 508 Testing Compliance only.

In 508 compliance, we make sure things are keyboard accessible. Often times, folks don't have physical ability to use a mouse. Making sure an application is keyboard accessible, opens that venue up to special peripherals that folks with disabilities use – like larger buttons.

🚀  What parts of the Makpar mission & culture do you connect with most? 🚀 

Investment in innovation & commitment to excellence I really connect with. We're involved in trying to implement these processes with our clients.

We're trying to make the entire development process better, more streamlined, and of a much higher quality. That's a big part of 508 compliance: educating the development team, as well as the management team about accessibility and why it's important. That education part is really cool.

Making a 508 compliance a part of the entire process speaks to Makpar's commitment to making a better product and team, and innovating the process, as well.

🏅 What is it like working with your team? 🏅

It's been awesome. Working with the Makpar, Tista, and IRS folks is great. Everybody really cares about making a great product.

Our project can be very high pressure and high stress. But throughout all of that, everyone is always very collaborative and open to improving the product as a team. Everyone is great with positive feedback and taking constructive criticism the right way. It's been a real pleasure working with everyone on the team.

☄️ Biggest inspiration at the company? ☄️

Mushtaq is one of the originators of the IRS project we're on and he's still going strong. You can tell he really cares about the success of the project – not just Makpar, but the whole project. He'll pop into my meetings sometimes – just the fact that he's able to make time and still pop in, just being there shows a lot of support to not only me as a Makpar employee but also as a person on the project. He's in the weeds with the rest of us.

🗣 Advice to new employees? 🗣

If you don't know an answer or need help with work stuff, life stuff, or knowledge deficiency in your skillset – just ask for help. Somebody knows the answer for you. If they don't know, they'll help you find the right person to talk to.

"If you want to grow as an employee, this is a great place to be."