My Accessibility Story

Posted December 15, 2006 at 2:46 AM | Tagged as: Accessibility, Meeeeeeee, Web Stuff | 2 Comments

Over at Accessify, Ian’s asked folks to tell the story of how they got into accessibility. Like Ian, I get asked this one a lot, so here’s my story.

Back in the summer of 1995, I was working as a student technician for Bryn Mawr’s Computing Services department. One day my supervisor told me I needed to install some special software on the library computers. I took the disks, went to the library, and started installing.

What I was installing, it turns out, was MAGic — screen magnification software. The software was requested by a low-vision member of the college community. She needed the software in order to be able to read our online card catalog — the Web, at the time, was still barely a factor for most of the folks that I interacted with. (That same summer I started teaching an “Intro to the Internet” course to adults and the focus was still on e-mail, except for a brief demo of Lycos and/or Magellan.)

Once the install was complete, I tried the software for myself. I was horrified; I wondered how anyone could adjust to using such a clunky application. As interfaces were enlarged, small flaws in certain apps stood out and attracted my attention. Words flew off screen, and I had to scroll horizontally in order to finish reading a line of text. As both a tech support person (I wondered if I had even installed the software correctly, for a while) and as a computer science student (I hadn’t taken any HCI courses, but clearly I was thinking about related issues) I was concerned on behalf of and for the user.

But I was also intrigued. I got one of the women that used the software to demonstrate it for me. We talked about other assistive technologies that were out there, and I tried to learn as much about them as I could. I installed JAWS for DOS at some point, to find out what screen readers were all about. I researched alternate input devices, and for a time used a Twiddler (chord-keyboard).

During this time I was also developing some rather amateurish Web sites, but I didn’t put much thought into making them accessible. Of course, at the time, the sites were just images and text, so there wasn’t much to think about! As sites got more and more complex, however, I learned about Web accessibility via that same community of users, which continued to call for tech support any time MAGic or JAWS failed to give them access to the content they desired.

In 1999, after I had joined AOL and learned they were being sued by the NFB, I had to chuckle to myself. When interviewing with them, I submitted a technical skills sheet in addition to my resume, on which I listed “Henter-Joyce assistive software” as something I was familiar with. I was clearly over-optimistic in thinking that AOL would already know of these products, since only one person asked me about that particular bullet point. Not only did I have to explain what the products did and who would make use of them, but I also had to explain why it was important for all people to be able to use computers and access the Internet. *forehead smack*

So, this story ends the same way many of my stories end… by crediting and thanking Bryn Mawr for the best education, opportunities, and community a school could offer to a student. When I say that I wouldn’t be where I am today if it hadn’t been for Bryn Mawr, I really, truly mean it.

Held Hostage By Allergies

Posted September 4, 2006 at 8:43 PM | Tagged as: Meeeeeeee, North Dakota | Comments Off

Now that the Labor Day Weekend is coming to a close, I look back over the past three days and see that I accomplished… nearly nothing. It’s been a record year for pollen counts in North Dakota, and this weekend has been especially bad for me. Because I’ve been trying to cut my sugar and caffeine intake, I didn’t resort to any of my home remedies (like large quantities of Smarties and Coke, which, yes, actually works for me). However, this meant that, on what looked like a very nice weekend, I locked myself inside the house, with the air conditioner blasting, alternately ingesting antihistimines and decongestants and sleeping. Ugh.

Assuming pollen levels are lower at home, I can’t wait to get back to Philly this week for the launch of the Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center. Assuming my friends in Computing Services will give me wifi access for those two days, I’ll blog what I can from the panel sessions.

I did (almost) finish one thing this weekend… I finally got WordPress up and running on Meridian Afterburn. So future car-related posts will appear there instead of here.

Owning It and Appreciating It

Posted July 12, 2006 at 7:46 AM | Tagged as: Computing, Meeeeeeee, Quotations, Technology, Women! | Comments Off

I am a geek, a computer nerd, a technologist, a computer scientist. Since a young age, I’ve been good at tinkering with mechanical and electrical things. I always loved math and computers, writing programs, playing games, and helping people achieve their goals through the use of technology.

I was good at other things too, and when people discouraged me from pursuing my interests in math, science, and technology, I focused on those other things. But, thanks to a liberal arts education (in which I realized my true strengths) and good people who helped reignite my interest in computers, I eventually came back to technology, and have made a career of my passion.

In 2003, just 29 percent of Computer Scientists were female. As Katha Pollitt (and many other feminists) would have me say, my presence here is a victory for the women’s movement!

I will not be scared away by statistics of dwindling numbers of women in the field, or by sluggish job prospects. I will not be intimidated by men in the field, nor will I be swayed by “opt-out feminists” who would want me to believe that my true calling is in the home by my husband’s side. Many women have gone before me, and I will seek to include more young girls and women in the field, and to support them as they traverse this rough and bumpy road.

Avoiding CSS Hacks for Internet Explorer

Posted December 16, 2005 at 7:57 PM | Tagged as: Meeeeeeee, Web Standards | Just 1 Comment

I wrote a small piece for Drew McLellan’s brilliant online advent calendar, 24 Ways to Impress Your Friends. You can read and comment on it, if you’re so inclined.

It’s about time!

Posted September 1, 2005 at 2:10 PM | Tagged as: Meeeeeeee | Comments Off

Isn’t it about time that I finally finish this site? I thought so too. So I finally sat down and did it. Hooray for me! And hooray for you, because now you can enjoy all its goodness. Go look at the photo gallery and my pictures from the SPAM Museum!