Feature Articles & Essays

These articles and essays include inspiring features on people and organizations realizing potential through the use of accessible technology, and essays by key Microsoft employees, partners, and associates who work to make computers more accessible.

Accessibility Perspectives Essays
Feature Articles

Accessibility Perspectives Essays

	Preserving Dreams: Inventive Rehabilitation Counselor Enables Patients to Gain Back Their Independence For more than a decade, Curt Johnson has served as a rehabilitation counselor with the UW Medical Center. Johnson, who likes problem-solving and mechanical tinkering, brings a unique set of skills to a challenging job.
	Microsoft is Working to Meet the Technology Needs of People with Multiple Sclerosis Ellen Kampel, public affairs manager in the Accessibility Business Unit at Microsoft, is an expert on accessible and assistive technologies and how they can enhance the lives of people with disabilities and age-related impairments.
	Ergonomics and Accessible Technology Increase Comfort and Productivity for Employees Ursula Wright, a Microsoft ergonomics consultant, helps employees increase their comfort and improve their productivity with a combination of accessible technology, specialized equipment, and proven ergonomics principles.
	Creating a Positive Work Environment for People with Disabilities Mylene Padolina, a senior diversity consultant on the Global Diversity and Inclusion team at Microsoft, is an expert in workplace accessibility and accommodation for people with disabilities.
	Working Together, Microsoft and AT Vendors Create Innovative Technology Solutions for Everyone Dan Hubbell, a technology evangelist in the Accessibility Business Unit at Microsoft, manages the Microsoft Assistive Technology Vendor program, which makes AT manufacturers an integral part of the product development process at Microsoft.
	Senior Computing: A Growing Market for Information and Communications Technology Gary Moulton, a product manager in the Accessibility Business Unit at Microsoft, is spearheading an effort to evaluate the senior market for information and communications technology. Gary, who has a doctorate in business administration, spent 10 years at Apple before joining Microsoft in the mid-1990s. Today, Gary is an expert in accessible and assistive technology solutions.
	Strategic Accessibility Investments Make Windows Vista a Stronger Platform for AT Innovation Mic Wagoner, a principal software design engineer at Microsoft, led the accessibility design and development team during the entire product development cycle for Windows Vista. Mic and her team are responsible for many of the new and enhanced accessibility settings and features in the newest operating system from Microsoft.
	Listening to Users is the Key to Speech Recognition at Microsoft Rob Chambers, a Microsoft employee since 1995, leads a team devoted to developing state-of-the-art speech recognition technology for products such as Windows Vista.
	Accessibility is Good Design and Good Business Michael Takemura is director of the accessibility program office at HP, and understands the importance of forging strategic industry partnerships and promoting good public policy to encourage accessibility.
	The Aging Workforce is Changing the Demand for Technology that is Accessible Bonnie Kearney, director of marketing in the Accessibility Business Unit (ABU) at Microsoft, is an expert at analyzing customer trends and their affect on the market for accessible technology products. Her job is developing marketing strategies consistent with those trends to make accessible technology more readily available to the growing number of people who want it.
	Connecting People with the Right Technology Has a Positive Impact On Their Lives, and Mine Joanne Castellano is the director of TECHConnection, a program of Family Resource Associates, a nonprofit organization in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, that assists people with disabilities and their families.
	Usability Research and User Feedback are Keys to Accessible Product Planning at Microsoft Annuska Perkins, a product planner in the Accessibility Business Unit (ABU) at Microsoft, is an expert in gathering feedback from computer users and conducting computer user research. Her job is to help product groups at Microsoft understand and accommodate the needs of those who require accessible technology to use their PCs and the Internet.

Feature Articles

Retired Computer Analyst with Parkinson's Discovers Accessibility Features Provide Greater Accuracy and Control
With the help of an assistive technology specialist at the Simon Technology Center, Barbara discovered accessibility features in Microsoft Windows that make it easier for her to use her computer. (July 2008)

Innovation through Collaboration: Microsoft and AT Companies Work Together to Make Windows Vista More Accessible
Microsoft's Assistive Technology Vendor program makes AT companies part of the product development process at Microsoft. (November 2006)

Vista from an Accessible View
Logan Olson, 21, says the speech-recognition software she tried out at Microsoft would help in her work publishing a lifestyle magazine for young women with disabilities. By Benjamin J. Romano, Seattle Times technology reporter. (August 2006)

Injured Iraq Vet, Using Technology that Helped Him Recover, Aims to Help Others
Technology is playing an important role in helping mitigate the effects of injuries sustained by U.S. Marine, Jonathan Kuniholm, in Iraq on New Year's Day 2003. See also press release. (May 2006)

45 Technology Centers Poised to Increase Awareness of Accessibility Features in Windows
Forty-five centers across the United States—in 39 states and Washington DC—have joined a nationwide network of Microsoft Accessibility Resource Centers (MARC). These centers provide much-needed accessibility consultation to businesses, schools, and individuals looking for empowering technology solutions. Hewlett-Packard (HP), a long-time collaborator on accessibility projects with Microsoft, has added its support in the program's second year. Each center will receive a Hewlett-Packard desktop computer running Microsoft Windows Vista—the next version of the Windows operating system. (April 2006)

Microsoft Accessible Technology Vendor Program (MATvp) Extends Global Reach
At the close of the latest open enrollment period, the Microsoft Assistive Technology Vendor Program (MATvp) had grown to 145 members. Members come from 20 countries including: USA, Ireland, Canada, Norway, Italy, Finland, Japan, Israel, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, China, The Netherlands, Australia, UK, France, New Zealand, Korea, and Spain. (January 2006)

Washington State Designs State-of-the-Art Accessible Web Site to Match Washingtonians with Disabilities to In-Home Care Workers
Home Care Quality Authority (HCQA), a Washington state agency, recently released an accessible Web site designed to help seniors, and people with disabilities, find qualified in-home care workers through a referral registry. (July 2005)

Opening Doors: Accessibility Through New Technology
A half dozen people gather together at the STAR Computer Center in the Seattle Housing Authority's Center Park Residence. It is the meeting of their computer users group. Each week they learn about a new software function or feature, ask questions, and share tips with one another. What makes this group different is that they, like the group facilitator, are blind. The software they are exploring is a program called JAWS, which translates text to speech. Article by Bill Crounse, M.D. Manager, Microsoft Global Healthcare Industry. (July 2005)

It's All About Access
When Randy Hayhurst woke up from his coma, his world had gone dark. The middle-aged salesman doesn't remember the instant his life changed forever, but the doctors at Harborview Medical Center filled him in on the details. Coming off a Seattle freeway on a rainy day, he was unable to stop his car before it hit the pickup truck in front of him. Hayhurst was lucky enough to keep his life, but at that moment he lost his vision. (By Ericka Chickowski, editor of Computer Source Magazine. Excerpted with permission from the December 2004 issue of Alaska Airlines Magazine, Seattle, Washington.) (December 2004)

Federal Internship Program Enables Students with Disabilities to Build Careers and Community
College internships enable students with disabilities to hone their IT skills while gaining valuable work experience. (September 2004)

More feature articles from 1997-2003