Those of us at ViewPlus Technologies are pleased to announce that our founder and President,
Dr. John Gardner, is the recipient of the ACM SIGACCESS Award for
Outstanding Contributions to Computing and Accessibility. This award was
established to recognize individuals who have made significant and lasting
contributions to the development of computing technologies which improve the
accessibility of media and services to people with disabilities. Outstanding
contributions through research, practice, or advocacy are recognized. The award
recognizes members of the community for long-term accomplishments or those who
have made a notable impact through a significant innovation.
Dr. Gardner, a physicist and research scientist
who became blind in 1988, not only continued his contribution to physics after
his blindness, but pioneered an entirely new area of accessibility in math and science.
While the onset of his blindness initially delayed his scientific work, many of
Dr. Gardner's numerous publications are devoted to accessibility. He has
contributed to incorporation of accessibility into Microsoft's operating systems, developed the DotsPlus
Braille mathematics notation, and contributed to the MathML mark-up language.
He and his group developed the Tiger embosser and IVEO audiohaptic display
technology, an accessible graphing calculator and collaborated with American
Physical Society (APS) to develop the technology and infrastructure necessary
for APS to publish its journals using the DAISY format.
Dr. Gardner will be attending the ASSETS 2012 conference to
deliver the keynote address. I hope you will join us in congratulating Dr.
Gardner on receiving this distinguished award.
