Rick Thomas Short
Clearance Level: Secret
Agency Granted by: DODCAF
Email: RickShort3D@yahoo.com
Objective-
Creative Director and Digital Experience Leader with 15+ years of experience guiding brand strategy, UX design, accessibility, web development, digital marketing, photography, and fine art initiatives. Proven history leading cross-functional teams, developing award-winning creative solutions, and delivering engaging customer experiences for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and private-sector organizations.
Expertise in the following fields:
- Information Technology
- Creative Direction
- Accessibility
- Software Engineering
- Marketing
- Photography
- Fine Art
- Instructional Design
- UX Design
Summary of Qualifications
- Award-winning Creative Director with over 15 years of experience in creative and technical roles writing, creating and testing Instructional Design courses, websites,videos, intranet sites and 2D & 3D graphics.
- Experience creating conceptual art, digital art illustrations, 2D and 3D digital art, video and camera-ready artwork for stock agencies, websites, print and mobile applications.
- Writing instructional design and e-learning courses for adult and K-12 students using the ADDIE model along with 508 Compliance and Web Content Accessibility (WCAG) guidelines.
- UX Accessibility and 508 Compliance SME (Subject Matter Expert) with over ten years of experience leading software development teams of 5 to 7 QA Testers and Software Developers developing, testing and teaching 508 Compliance and Accessibility for education, state and federal government applications.
Certifications -IC Agile Certified Professional, Accessibility Testing Expert Certified, Deloitte Consulting, LLC
Technical Skills - UI Design, Instructional Design, Web Design / Development, Technical Writing, 508 Compliance and Accessibility Training and Testing, Graphic design in electronic and print media.
Graphic Design - Adobe Creative Suite, Paint Shop Pro, Stock Photography / Photo Manipulation, Video and Photo Editing.
AI Tools - ChatGPT, Google AI.
Accessibility / 508 Compliance Tools - ANDI Web Accessibility Tool, Axe Google Plug-in Accessibility Tool, The Paciello Group Colour Contrast Analyzer, Google Chrome Color Contrast Analyzer, Freedom Scientific JAWS Screen Reader, Freedom Scientific ZoomText Magnifier / Reader, Site Improve Accessibility Checker, Trace Center Photosensitive Epilepsy Analysis Tool (PEAT), JAWS, NVDA and Microsoft Windows Narrator Screen Readers, VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template), WebAIM WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool, Sort Site, W3C WCAG 2.0 / 2.1 / 2.2 Guidelines.
UI Skills - HTML / HTML5, CSS / CSS3, JavaScript, Three.js, JQuery, Twitter Bootstrap, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Creative Suite, Figma.
Methodologies – Agile using SCRUM, Waterfall, ADDIE Model.
Soft Skills - Received Monetary Awards and Recognition for coaching and mentoring, teaching, training, vendor management, project leadership.
Experience
Deloitte Consulting LLC 2/2017 - Present
Senior Solution Engineer
- Received 6 Applause Awards from upper management in supporting the QA Accessibility testing activities for Federal Government clients including the United States Navy, Department of Homeland Security and US Department of the Treasury (Internal Revenue Service).
- Serve as Co-Lead for the Accessibility Community of Practice for the Deloitte Florida office to teach and train testers on Accessibility law, WCAG 2.0 / 2.1 Guidelines, manual and automated testing tools.
- Create conceptual art, website design, development and accessibility testing for federal agencies including
- The United States Navy
- US Department of the Treasury (IRS)
- The Department of Homeland Security (TSA)
- US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
- State Agencies including CA Department of Health Care Services, State of Ohio, and other states.
- Mentor other consultants in creating 508 Compliant websites, graphics, video content and ad copy.
- Create Instructional Design Courses and Video Tutorials to teach Developers how to use Accessibility testing tools such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, Windows Narrator, ZoomText, Colour Contrast Analyzer and other accessibility tools.
- Write Instructional Design documentation to serve as training for Developers, QA Testers and Upper Management on web accessibility tools using videos, screen captures and Microsoft Word.
- Teach Technical Writing Workshops for the Robotics and Cognitive Automation Eminence Team to help the team become more proficient in writing technical white papers.
- Serve as Career Coach and Mentor for 5 Deloitte Software Engineers mentoring and coaching professional development skills.
Scenic Earth Studios 8/2011 - 1/2017
Creative Director
- Led creative direction for a cross-functional team of web designers, developers, and artists creating web and print content, increasing brand awareness and creating promotional materials for clients in Northern and Central Florida.
- Perform UX Design and graphic design creation of large banners, posters, email campaigns, advertisements, digital art and stock photography.
- Built relationships with print and software vendors to gain bids, prices and print large (10 x 20 ) banners, signs and build software and website applications.
- Wrote ad copy, designed logos, and large scale banners for trade shows.
- Created conceptual and finished digital stock images for websites, print and electronic media using Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro.
- Created 3D User Interfaces over the web using WebGL frameworks such as Three.js and HTML5.
- Tested web applications for cross browser compatibility, responsiveness and mobile friendliness using mobile emulators, mobile devices and desktop browsers.
Florida Virtual School 8/2009 - 8/2011
Quality Assurance Analyst / Instructional Designer
- Ensured 508 compliance standards were met by testing all aspects of course content including alt tags, videos, interactive content and proof reading.
- Awarded vendor status for creating original digital artwork to be used in live courses resulting in monetary savings for the company.
- Improved game play and reduced errors for courses using 3D game levels, game play and UI design for 3D games developed by vending partner.
- Reduced errors found in beta released courses by 50% through QA testing.
- Created prototypes of courses including storyboarding, visual modeling and interactive websites using Adobe Photoshop, HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
- Educated Teachers, Managers and Curriculum Services staff by teaching seminars on 508 Compliance & Color Theory in Web Design.
Education
Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA
- Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, Information Systems
- Bachelor of Science, Marketing
Awards
- Deloitte Applause Award Recipient, Award Number: 2203833 on 04/21/2026.
- Deloitte Applause Award Recipient, Award Number: 1930876 on 04/02/2025.
- Deloitte Applause Award Recipient, Award Number: 1743575 on 05/15/2024.
- Deloitte Outstanding Performance Award Recipient, Award #: 1708039, April 2024, FinCEN.
- Nominated for Outstanding Coach, Deloitte Consulting LLC, October 2023.
- Nominated for Deloitte Team Inclusion Champion, October 2023 for work performed for the Test Automation / Accessibility Delivery Pool, Lake Mary, FL.
- Deloitte Applause Award Recipient, Deloitte FY22 USDC STAR Awards, 12/20/2021, Award Number: 1213700.
- Deloitte Applause Award Recipient, Deloitte Internal ChangeScout Project, 01/12/2021, Award Number: 1039159.
- Deloitte Applause Award Recipient, US Navy PMW 240 Support, 09/24/19, Award Number: 782159.
- Award Winning Artist / Photographer earning First Place, Second Place and Honorable Mention Awards and Cash Prizes in Central Florida Art shows (2000 – 2020).
Portfolio
Professional References Available Upon Request