Press coverage
- Featured in a profile in the Atlantic Monthly (September 2001) entitled “The King of Closed Captions”
- Described by Silent News (February 2002; not online) as “the Ralph Nader of the captioning industry” (and also “considered by many as one of the captioning industry’s pests”; I prefer the term gadfly)
- Dubbed “the eccentric self-appointed guru of closed captioning” by Saturday Night (May 2002; not online)
- Regular source for other journalists covering media access, e.g.:
- Featured in a Toronto Star profile (2002.06.15) on motion-picture accessibility
- “Problems with real-time captioning” (Playback, 2001.05.28)
- “Amazon Access: How Accessible?” (Wired News, 2001.12.20)
- “Flash News Flash: It’s Accessible”
All-round media-access knowledge
- Advanced expertise in captioning and audio description
- Excellent knowledge of Web accessibility (enough to write a book about it)
- Good command of subtitling and dubbing
- Watched, followed, written and lectured about captioning and media access since 1976, predating closed captioning
- Author of more than a dozen articles on captioning, audio description, and related issues
- Presentation experience:
- Captioning typography for HDTV
- Requirements for captioning in the Broadcasting Act (circa 1990)
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Numerous appearances in support of Building Accessible Websites
- Combined humanities–technical education, with a B.A. in linguistics and a diploma in engineering (a junior degree)
- Thorough online experience and knowhow:
- Online since 1991, predating the Web
- Programmed and run Web sites since 1994
- Able to write standards-compliant HTML off the top of my head
- Author of Building Accessible Websites on Web accessibility (New Riders, 2003)
- Experienced journalist (390 published articles) and editor (of books, articles, manuscripts, theses, and Web sites)
- Followed typography and graphic design for two decades; worked in the type trade; extensive portfolio of design criticism
- Volunteer and professional experience in the fields of accessibility and disability generally
Recent projects
Some of these projects are unannounced but in operation nonetheless. The fact that I can’t cite the client or link to the appropriate site is merely a consequence of this irony. (Revised 2006.07.17.)
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Accessibility assessment of children’s Web site
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Briefing papers on captioning and audio description of online media and on typography
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Research project on online captioning
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Government accessibility compliance (HTML and PDF retrofitting, plus training and consultation)
- Online video accessibility (project completed but unannounced)
- Standards and training development
- Web accessibility book
- Web accessibility retrofit (numerous volunteer and paid projects completed)
Government consulting
I have experience consulting with government departments and contractors in meeting accessibility mandates. I’ve trained managers, staff, and HTML markup jockeys in accessible Web design and HTML, and have unique expertise in accessible PDF.
Availability
I’m available for the following consulting services:
- Web accessibility, including online multimedia
- Getting started in media access: Needs assessment, technology briefings, how-to training
- DVD accessibility (conventional and advanced)
- Cinema access
- Quality control and standards development (especially of captioning and audio description)
That’s not an exhaustive list. If you have any questions or doubts about how to deal with accessible media in any way, chances are my decades of experience will provide an answer. Drop me a line and tell me what you need.
