Hi, I’m Frank Elavsky
I research, design, engineer, contribute to standards, and talk about things at the intersection of data work and accessibility. I consider myself a maker and a builder before anything else, but I like to think I also do this work critically.
I’m a PhD student and researcher at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. I am advised by Dominik Moritz and Patrick Carrington and a member of the Data Interaction Group and AXLE Lab.
I also offer part-time consulting services on a case by case basis, from single-session calls to large, on-going projects. My more recent work (both big and small) includes collaboration with the wonderful folks at Highsoft’s Highcharts 📊, Apple , Adobe, Fizz Studio, SRI, UW-Madison’s WGNHS, Northwestern University’s MLDS, Quansight Labs, FiveThirtyEight, tldraw, and Microsoft. As of Jan 2024: I am likely booked for larger projects until the end of the summer of 2026. Please don’t hestitate to reach out, I would still be happy to discuss what you’re up to, connect you to folks, and send over resources.
- fje@cmu.edu
- Pittsburgh, PA
Featured Projects
Bokeh Audit
We performed an in-depth accessibility evaluation for the interactive data visualization Python library, Bokeh.
Softerware
Softerware is an approach for designing systems that can be customized and personalized by people with disabilities.
Data Navigator
Data Navigator is a system for creating accessible data structures that can be navigated with a variety of assistive technologies.
Featured Publications
My background
I was formerly a W3C invited expert in data visualization in the ARIA Working Group and currently still volunteer my time with other efforts.
Before embarking on a PhD I was a staff design systems engineer at Visa on their Data Experience team and lead contributor to the accessibility efforts of their first open source library, Visa Chart Components. We were able to do some pretty extraordinary things together and I am fortunate to have worked alongside such world-class folks.
Prior to Visa I had a high-octane 2 years at Northwestern University working for Research Computing Services providing data visualization support to over two dozen research projects across a wide range of disciplines. Several of my projects won awards and have been featured in over 60 research publications (including the privilege of being uncredited in the 2017 Nobel Lecture on Physics), 100+ web articles, 4 PhD theses, 4 graduate courses, and 9 textbooks.
In my early career (before Northwestern), I worked in federal policy analyzing large, complex medicare/medicaid datasets and building visualization tools for lawyers and policymakers.
Latest News
- I’m excited to be traveling to ASSETS for the first time. I hope to meet up with so many folks!
- Started a new collab with Adobe!
- Visiting Highsoft has been a dream come true! Vik and the fjord have been wonderful, let alone working with the Highcharts folks.
- I’m humbled and thankful to be the first student Associate Editor at JoVI!
- I was shortlisted for Impactful Community Leadership at the 2023 IIBs. I’m honored!
- So happy to finally meet so many folks I know and respect in person at VIS this year.
- We hosted Aimen Gaba (PhD at UMass) here at CMU for 2 weeks. Exciting things to come…
- Our paper was accepted for IEEE VIS 23! Melbourne, here I come.
- I was a student volunteer at DIS 23. What a blast!
- Visualizing Knowledge 23 was outstanding. Helsinki is now one of my favorite cities.
Latest Visits
| Oct 28–30, '24 | Attended in-person, ASSETS, St. John's, Canada |
| Oct 13–18, '24 | Attended (virtual), IEEE VIS |
| Aug 17–25, '24 | Vacation, Norway & Sweden |
| Aug 12–16, '24 | Highsoft Visit, Vik, Norway |
| Jul 24–25, '24 | Invited Speaker, NIH, Maryland |
| May 12–17, '24 | Invited Speaker, AccessU, Austin, TX |
| May 9, '24 | Invited Speaker, T-Mobile Accessibility Summit |
| May 4–8, '24 | Vacation, Tennessee Road Trip |
| Apr 18, '24 | Invited Speaker, Accessibility Tableau User Group |
| Apr 2, '24 | Guest Lecture, CMU |