Concurrent 4C: Accessibility: It’s Real and It’s Realistic

After a productive 20-year career in scholarly publishing characterized by pioneering work in online and digital media publishing, including nine years as Publisher of The New England Journal of Medicine, Rick established a specialized consultancy to help publishers make the most of emerging digital opportunities.

Since 1999 his focus has been on helping clients develop strategies to remove barriers that make their publications, products, websites and services inaccessible for people with visual, hearing, mobility, cognitive and learning disabilities.

A past-president of SSP, Rick currently works with the Association of American Publishers, the American Foundation for the Blind, individual publishers and other organizations to meet the accessibility challenges mandated by a fast- growing body of federal and state legislation.

He is a frequent speaker on accessibility and authored the chapter on accessibility in the Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing. Rick currently serves on the NIMAS Development Board which provides technology leadership for the federal K-12 accessible textbooks program.

Starting in 1994 the American Physical Society has consistently moved in small steps towards the implementation of Vision 2020, with Bob and his team playing a lead role. Starting with the recognizing of eprints as a legitimate element of the Physics process through the launching of pure and hybrid OA journals up to recent announcements of Creative Commons Licensing, permitting reuse, including commercial reuse, of select APS articles.

John Gardner is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Oregon State University and president of ViewPlus Technologies, Inc (http://www.viewplus.com).

He lost his sight in mid-career and undertook research on technologies enabling complex information accessibility. He founded ViewPlus in 1996 to commercialize these technologies. It is now a major access technology company.