CONGRATULATIONS TO JIM THATCHER

SIGCAS MAKING A DIFFERENCE AWARD 2008

The SIGCAS 2008 Making A Difference Award goes to Dr. Jim Thatcher, a pioneer, expert and consultant in the area of computer screen readers and support for computer system accessibility for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.

In the early days of Dr. Thatcher’s career, he started working on an audio access system for the IBM Personal Computer.  Such access systems are known today as screen readers.  His work culminated in the development of one of the first screen readers for DOS in 1984-85, called IBM Screen Reader.  He later led the development of IBM Screen Reader/2, the first screen reader for a graphical user interface on the PC, and was later intimately involved in the development of IBM Home Page Reader, a talking web browser for the blind and visually impaired.

In 1996 Dr. Thatcher joined the IBM Accessibility Center in Austin, TX, where he led the effort to include accessibility in the IBM development process. A key part of that effort was the establishment of the IBM Accessibility Guidelines specifically for use within IBM's development community.

Jim served as Vice-Chair of the Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee (EITAAC) which was impaneled by the Access Board to propose standards for Section 508; he chaired the subcommittee on software standards. Later he wrote the course on Web Accessibility for Section 508 for ITTATC, the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center, which was funded in support of Section 508.

Dr. Thatcher has received numerous awards for his outstanding technical work over his 37-year career with IBM. He received a Distinguished Service award from The National Federation of the Blind in 1994 and the Vice President's Hammer Award for his work with the Department of Education on the development of Software Accessibility Standards in 1999. Jim retired in March, 2000, becoming an independent consultant in the area of accessibility.  He is a co-author of Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance, published July 2006.