“I’ve never heard of you” ~ A world-famous Agile coach.
I’m Paul Littlebury, a quality engineer, software developer, and accessibility consultant with more than 25 years of experience. I help teams ship better digital products through smarter testing, robust automation, and a deeply human approach to quality.
I believe quality-whether that’s bulletproof code, seamless automation, or inclusive accessibility-is not a final box to tick at the end of delivery. It is a mindset and a culture based entirely on outcomes. Done right, it reduces friction, boosts delivery confidence, and fundamentally elevates the experience of the people using the product.
What I do & How I help#
I blend hands-on technical engineering with collaborative problem-solving across five core areas:
- Accessibility: Operating Practical Accessibility Ltd, I treat inclusive UX as a first-class quality concern. I specialize in reducing cognitive friction and ensuring digital spaces work for everyone, including neurodivergent users.
- Test engineering & Systemic Analysis: Moving beyond endless spreadsheets of bugs. I build custom automated tooling (utilizing modern stacks like Python, PostgreSQL, and Playwright) to test web, mobile, and APIs efficiently to find root-cause issues.
- DevOps & CI/CD: Building robust, maintainable frameworks and embedding quality seamlessly into delivery pipelines.
- Strategy & coaching: Helping teams step away from “pass/fail” compliance to take shared ownership of user-centred thinking.
- Conversational AI: Exploring and testing complex AI systems to uncover logic and usability issues early.
I love bringing order to complex systems-fixing the root cause rather than chasing symptoms-so teams can feel genuinely confident in what they release.
Experience#
I have worked across healthcare, fintech, telecoms, public services, and high-traffic consumer products. Highlights include:
- Acorn Compliance - Focused on conversational AI quality and automation frameworks.
- bet365 - Rebuilt mobile UI and API test frameworks for Android and iOS.
- CGI - Led as SDET Lead across four Scrum teams working on a major Flutter banking app.
- Ceta Insurance - Shaped test strategy, UI/API automation, load testing, and CI pipelines.
- Tele2 - Delivered quality engineering for a custom AI chatbot.
- Enterprise Systems - Scale experience with DocComs, KPMG, Wowcher, TNT, and more.
Every project has strengthened my belief that the best engineering happens when we stop treating users like data points and start designing for real human behavior.
Experience#
I have spent more than 25 years building and improving testing approaches across complex digital products. My focus is on helping teams identify meaningful barriers and fix them in a way that actually works in delivery, actively avoiding “accessibility theatre” and simple box-ticking.
I have led quality assurance and test engineering across healthcare, fintech, telecoms, and high-traffic consumer products, working with major global brands including the BBC, Nike, Sony, Reuters, and bet365 Highlights include:
- Conversational AI & Chatbots: Designed and executed automated and exploratory test frameworks for AI systems at Acorn Compliance and Tele2[cite: 2]. I built structured test suites to assess NLP accuracy and multi-turn logic, while also conducting deep UX testing to ensure the chatbot’s “personality” remained empathetic, inclusive, and cognitively accessible for neurodivergent users.
- Test Engineering Leadership: Served as Lead SDET and QA Manager across dozens of complex digital transformations[cite: 2]. I architect robust UI and API test frameworks (utilizing tools like Playwright, Mocha/Chai, and Specflow) and embed continuous testing directly into CI/CD pipelines.
- Systemic Accessibility: Moving beyond page-by-page checks, I build tooling and analysis approaches that help teams handle accessibility evidence at scale[cite: 2]. This includes multi-tool reporting, repeated pattern analysis, and generating clear technical guidance for developers.
Accessibility services#
Alongside broader quality engineering, I provide focused, outcomes-based accessibility services for websites and mobile apps:
- Accessibility Audit - Choose this for a structured assessment of your current state, systemic issue analysis, and a transparent roadmap forward.
- Accessibility Support - Choose this for an embedded co-pilot offering hands-on help during design, development, testing, and release.
What drives me#
Ultimately, I am motivated by making things better:
- Better experiences that reduce cognitive friction for the end user.
- Better practices for engineering teams through smart, systemic tooling.
- Better communication across disciplines by translating complex rules into plain English.
- Better confidence in every single release.