IBM commended by American Foundation for the Blind
In accepting an award to IBM from the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) recently, IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research John E. Kelly opened some old mail.
It was a letter dated October 1952 from Helen Keller to IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, and in it she expressed gratitude for Watson having encouraged his engineers to devise “mechanical and electric aids for the blind.”
“The more openings you make for them in the wall of darkness through invention,” she wrote, “the greater will their contribution be to public service, both as productive workers and responsible members of society.”
Kelly, who accepted the AFB’s 2008 Helen Keller Achievement Award in Accessibility on behalf of IBM on October 1, said that endorsement from half a century ago "speaks directly to IBM’s long-standing belief that accessibility is not really about assistive technology, or even just accommodating people with disabilities. It’s about eliminating barriers – physical and technological – to help all people reach their full potential.”
The difference between now and 1952 he suggested, is that forward-thinking companies and public organizations aren’t just adopting accessibility in the name of philanthropy. “They’re doing it because there is a strong business case for enabling human ability. To integrate accessibility into your information technology systems and the very culture and fabric of your organization,” Kelly said, “is to drive growth, enhance service capabilities and participate in the socio-economic development of our global society.”