Sarah Forgrave, Cert.APM, MLIS (She/Her)

Sarah Forgrave is a digital strategy and experience leader in the Faculty of Science, where she focuses on helping teams work more effectively through thoughtful, people‑centred digital change. Her work spans information architecture, web modernization, intranet development, responsible AI enablement, and platform governance - always with an emphasis on clarity, accessibility, and practical day‑to‑day impact.

With a background in digital experience, web governance, and user‑centred design, Sarah works closely with administrative and academic units to understand how staff actually get work done and where digital friction exists. She translates these insights into clearer processes, more sustainable content practices, and digital tools that better support the Faculty’s operations. Her approach is grounded in listening, collaboration, and helping people adopt technology in ways that feel manageable rather than overwhelming.

Over her career, Sarah has led or co‑led several major institutional initiatives, including Waterloo’s campus‑wide information architecture framework, the University‑wide website redesign, and multiple generations of WCMS migrations. Her more recent work includes building the Science intranet (SharePoint hub‑site), improving governance and lifecycle practices across web and collaboration platforms, establishing a staff Science Web Action Team (SWAT), and supporting responsible use of AI and low‑code automation. Her focus is on sustainable digital ecosystems - ones that are accessible, coherent, and shaped by the needs of the people who use them.

Sarah is passionate about responsible technology adoption and creating inclusive digital environments that align with the values of higher education. She is known for bridging technical and non‑technical perspectives, building strong relationships across a federated campus, and helping teams navigate digital change with confidence and clarity.

• User‑centred web & intranet ecosystems

• Service design for staff, faculty and student experience

• Responsible AI & low‑code enablement

• Accessibility & inclusive design

• Continuous Process Improvement

• Digital Transformation

• 2002, Master of Library and Information Science, University of Western Ontario, Canada

• 2000, BA (Hons), University of Western Ontario, Canada

• University of Waterloo Web Steering Committee - Member

• University of Waterloo Web Advisory Committee (WAC) - Member

• Science Web Action Team (SWAT) - Chair/Founder

• Waterloo Science User Experience (WatSUX) - Chair

• Science Communications Roundtable Update Meetings (SCRUM) - Member/Founder

• University of Waterloo Digital Accessibility (Community of Practice) - Member

• University of Waterloo Web Roundtable - Member

• University of Waterloo Campus Communicators (C4) - Member

• University of Waterloo SharePoint (Community of Practice) - Member

• University of Waterloo Accessibility Ally Network - Member

• University of Waterloo Campus IT (Community of Practice) - Member

• Interaction Design Foundation (IXDF)

• AIPP

• Forgrave, Sarah, The Accessible Web: It’s not just about Media Metrix numbers, it’s about users A Pilot Study of the Accessibility of Online Canadian Newspapers, 2002.

• Forgrave, Sarah and McKechnie, Lynne EF, Online On Ramps: A Pilot Study Evaluation of the Accessibility of Canadian Public Library Web Sties to Visually and Hearing Challenged Users, Proceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS/Actes du congrès annuel de l'ACSI, 2001

• Forgrave, S, The accessible web: It's not just about media metrix numbers, it's about users, CANADIAN JOURNAL OF INFORMATION AND LIBRARY SCIENCE-REVUE CANADIENNE DES SCIENCES DE L INFORMATION ET DE BIBLIOTHECONOMIE, 113, 2001