The queen of Knowbility
by Beth
Five years ago I sat on a panel with Sharron Rush, the executive director and co-founder of a non-profit in Austin called Knowbility. We’ve been friends ever since, and this week I’m flying with my Seeing Eye dog Whitney to hear Sharron give the morning keynote at this year’s Big Design Conference in Dallas.
Knowbility, Inc. helps make the internet and other technologies accessible to people who are blind, visually impaired, hearing impaired, have mobility impairments and cognitive or learning disabilities. Sharron’s keynote is titled “The Big Umbrella of Inclusive Design” and will focus on a recent challenge — how to design a voting system that works for all citizens, including those with disabilities. From the description on the Big Design web site:
Lessons learned — and those that we are still learning — have profound impact on design effectiveness and flexibility. As we design systems for inclusion, we find that as we remove perceived barriers we also solve unanticipated problems and improve user experience for all.
Here’s an understatement for you: accessible websites can really make a difference in a person’s life. Sharron’s non-profit sponsors a yearly conference/workshop about accessible technology, and I was fortunate enough to attend John Slaten Access University, (Access U) in Austin back in 2008 with two of my colleagues from Easter Seals.
Thanks to the efforts of programmers and website developers who value the importance of accessibility for the blind, speech synthesis allows me to Google to do my research, I’m able to fill out online forms on my own, I flip through websites to find information about events, times, locations, and on and on. All that stuff the rest of you do using your eyes and a mouse? I do that by using my ears and keyboard commands.
Excuse the mixed-metaphor here, but Access U was really an eye-opener for me. It was heartening to be around so many people with an active interest in keeping the web accessible. Now I look forward to heading to the Big Design conference and applauding Sharron Rush’s efforts.