Tue, 17 Jun 2025 09:01:50 +0000
At the end of high school, I was lost which path to follow with my studies or what interest of mine to turn into a career. But I had the dream of having an efficient way to innovate something that could change people’s lives in the future.
About me
I’m Anna Salo, an accessibility-oriented software developer consultant at Nitor. For the last five years, I have focused on working with frontends for critical mass user services and B2C, both web and mobile. Therefore, I have taken a special interest in creating sustainable and accessible user interfaces. That means following tightly the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), especially on projects that involve public services and systems like student information platforms, which are legally required to meet WCAG accessibility standards. Many online services have been neglecting the accessibility requirements in the past, ending up in a difficult situation where the service doesn’t pass the updated accessibility regulations. With the new legislation coming into effect this summer, even more services like web stores will need to comply, meaning accessibility has become a very essential part of today’s web and mobile consumer service development.
My path to IT and accessibility specialist
At the end of high school, I was lost which path to follow with my studies or what interest of mine to turn into a career. But I had the dream of having an efficient way to innovate something that could change people’s lives in the future. From early on, I remember taking notice of a bad UI design and UX experience, thinking about how I would have wanted to do this and that somewhat better way. However, I felt insecure of my artistic competence to become a designer myself. This is when the thought of being a developer came along. I had never seriously considered it for myself before, having some preconceived and not-so-flattering misconceptions about the tech field. So, at first, there was no deep enthusiasm behind applying to computer science; it felt more like a suitable path to find my career.
I ended up studying Computer Science at the University of Helsinki, earning my Bachelor’s degree. I was happy that most of my fears and misconceptions of the field were false. In fact, the problem-solving nature of it, with a room for creativity and design thinking, suited me well. While studying, I also started my career in startups, initially working on B2B solutions and later moving into B2C. I worked as a full-stack developer but gradually specialized in front end development. I also have the typical tale, I took a cap year from master studies to concentrate on my career, and half a decade later, I’m still on that cap year.
Prior to Nitor, I developed a React Native based mobile app for iOS and Android. I had no prior experience with React Native or mobile app development, but I took the initiative to learn it from scratch. This idea ended up being a valuable stepping stone, giving me strong hands-on experience with modern technologies and project models. In those early roles in the startups, I had to implement all steps which gave me a broad and practical understanding of real world development—something that isn’t always taught at university.
My journey with accessibility began when I wrote about Human Computer Interaction and Natural User Interfaces on my Bachelor’s thesis. The research I did had a huge impact on my thinking of UI and UX challenges, as I learned about issues I wouldn’t have understood to even consider prior. I began to find my passion, to change the mindset of others towards accessibility-oriented thinking. Working with accessibility has been both challenging and rewarding, and there is always something new to grow my expertise in. My next career target is to test my skills and earn the IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) certificate. Now, looking at the kind of work I do today, I’m proud of myself taking that unexpected path. Stepping out of my comfort zone led me to something I truly care about and hopefully will make an improvement to other people’s lives.
Anna Salo, Software Developer, Nitor
Joining Nitor and working as a consultant
Joining Nitor was a lucky coincidence for me. After a few years in the startup world, I have started to feel it would be the right moment to move forward with my career, but I was unsure about the next step. Then Nitor contacted me through LinkedIn for a coffee, so in a way, Nitor found me. I wasn’t familiar with the consulting business back then, but I decided to give it a go. Soon I found myself amazed by their warm and supportive Nitorean-driven work community and their ambition to be a sustainable and quality-driven digital consulting house. I felt this could be the perfect work community for me.
I was a bit anxious about whether I would be a good fit in a consulting field, but working in startups turned out to be a significant advantage. The hands-on experience with React Native and a good understanding of user interfaces made me a strong match for what Nitor was looking for. Luckily, I also ended up with a perfect customer case, where I got my chance to work with real and challenging accessibility issues, and later develop my expertise with an accessible Design System as well.
When I joined in 2020, Nitor had claimed the ‘Great Place to Work’ title for a few years in a row, and I couldn’t agree more with that evaluation. I get to work with the nicest and most talented people, there is always support available, and I feel valued as part of our work community.
Nitor actively supports our self-study and professional development. We’re encouraged to get certifications and given five paid working days a year to focus on our academic training. We also have the mentoring program, from which I got the chance to learn and practise my UI design skills. This kind of support and freedom to grow makes working at Nitor so rewarding for me.
One of the things I appreciate is the flexibility we have beyond customer work. We get to use 10% of our work time for internal or self-development—we call this “core work.” That could be working on our internal projects, like the Nitor.com website and internal apps, or contributing to various coding initiatives for the common good, like Virtanen.ai. There’s a lot of room to explore things we’re passionate about and a chance to create something truly great from those things.
Keys to better accessibility
Making a web service fully accessible means considering keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and ensuring all content is properly structured for assistive technologies. You also must think of the frontend usability for people who do not need special assistive technology. That means securing accessible styles by using good colour contrasts and readable font-sizes and ensuring that the frontend has good cognitive accessibility. Avoiding pitfalls requires high code maintainability, writing clean, semantically correct code, and thorough testing across different devices and browsers.
Accessibility isn’t always black and white. Sometimes, especially with more complex design or interaction patterns, there isn’t one definitive “correct” way to do something. In cases where the official WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) doesn’t give a clear-cut answer, I assess the best approach based on the context. It becomes a bit of a judgment call: what’s the most inclusive and accessible option in this specific situation? That kind of thinking makes accessibility work both challenging and creative. With accessibility, you should avoid overdoing things and ensure that screen readers get only the information they need for the most fluid and informative user experience. You’re not just following rules—you’re solving real problems for real people.
When I’m stuck on a problem or feeling overwhelmed, I’ve learned that the best thing I can do is step away and give my brain a break. I often come back with a fresh perspective and usually the solution suddenly feels obvious and straightforward. It’s a reminder that sometimes the best way to handle self-doubt or mental blocks is simply to allow yourself space to reset and return with a clear mind.
About the impact of AI
I’m genuinely concerned about how the rise of AI is impacting junior developers, especially those at the beginning of their careers. If companies continue hiring mostly senior-level talent and overlook junior developers, it will slow down the progress we’ve made in increasing diversity. You can’t become a senior developer without first being a junior one. We all need that early-career experience to grow, learn, and make mistakes. I know I did—I was a total beginner at my first job, and wouldn’t be where I am today, hadn’t I gotten a chance to learn and improve thanks to the support and feedback from more experienced colleagues.
Not hiring coders for junior roles is especially affecting women developers, as we have a growing number of women in tech, many of whom are still at the start of their careers. I am afraid that companies often prioritize very high-level experience, creating a cycle where women don’t get the chance to gain that experience.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve started studying design and accessibility more deeply. These are areas where the human perspective is still essential, and I believe they’ll remain relevant even as AI becomes more powerful. Design thinking and accessibility require empathy, context, and a deep understanding of real user needs—things machines still struggle with.
I believe AI will transform every profession —none of us is exempt. But we need to be intentional about how we adapt, ensuring we’re not sacrificing long-term skills and diversity for short-term efficiency.
What worries me even more is the idea of training new developers to rely solely on AI generated code. If you never have to do the thinking yourself from the start, you miss out on learning how to spot errors, understand best practices, or evaluate the quality of what’s being produced. Without foundational knowledge, how can you critically assess or improve what AI gives you?
The post Role model blog: Anna Salo, Nitor first appeared on Women in Tech Finland.
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