Overview
From her academic starting point a degree in English Literature - Asakawa has made an extraordinary journey. Today, she is responsible for the research and development of IBM software and applications that help improve web accessibility for the visually impaired and others with special needs. Her contributions to the field of accessibility research include making the internet and other web resources available to the visually impaired via PCs by automatically converting text and icons on the screen to voice. She was a key technical leader in the development of IBM Home Page Reader (HPR), a web access tool for blind and low vision users which allows people to surf the web using numeric keypads instead of a mouse. HPR also uses the IBM text-to-speech synthesizer to speak Web-based information aloud just as it is presented on the computer screen. It is now produced in eleven languages and distributed worldwide. She says HPR has been perhaps her most rewarding achievement to date.
"HPR enabled many people with visual impairments to get started on using the internet even novice users," Asakawa said. "We were able to show even people who can't see are able to access the web without too much difficulty."
Expressing appreciation for the contribution of her colleagues, Asakawa said, "Without their sustained support, I wouldn't have been able to receive this recognition. When I joined the IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory in 1985, I had an opportunity to propose a project to help people with visual impairments. Since then, my research and development for accessibility has been made possible through the support of many people both within and outside IBM."
While admitting the challenges in her chosen career, Asakawa-san's enthusiasm and sense of curiosity have fostered cooperation and support from friends and colleagues. Her parents gave her a wonderful start, encouraging her to pursue whatever interested her, without limits. Following her graduation in 1983, she was attracted to a new course in computer science for the blind, offered by Lighthouse Japan.
"At that time there were no PCs and I learned computer programming by using punch cards and mainframe computers. I naturally rode the wave of computer evolution after joining IBM. As an optimist, my first priority has been to look for solutions to problems. I've also learned that relying on others when you need to doesn't mean you lose your self-esteem. Their support has allowed me increasingly to diversify and develop using accessible technology."
Asakawa is a passionate advocate of creating online resources where the visually impaired can access information and resources. In a world where information technologies are becoming ever more reliant on a visually rich environment, her achievements are valuable to increasing numbers of people.
She has been instrumental in some of the key developments of accessibility of the past two decades. Through her leadership, the IBM Braille Forum Network brought about a drastic breakthrough in the delivery of Braille books. Sharing Braille information via the network gives blind people the sensation of being in a bookstore, where they can browse and download books at their convenience. The network is now being used in public Braille libraries as the standard Braille service system in Japan. It is managed by an organization of Braille libraries, and funded by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
"Information technology can greatly improve both quality of life and quality of work, for people with visual impairments," Asakawa said. "I hope my work shows that even a person who can't see is able to do research and development using these tools. The systems we've developed are improving people's lives. We still have a way to go, though, before we can achieve our goal of offering a partial substitute for normal eyesight, in order to live actively in society."
Asakawa works to find solutions to improve the lives of the visually impaired by ensuring they have equal access to technology and innovation. To that end, she has established a comprehensive digital environment for the blind in collaboration with other parts of IBM and with Braille organizations in Japan.
Another "killer application" she and her team developed is the Braille Editing System (BES), which made it possible to input 6-dot Braille directly into a computer, edit the documents with rich Braille word processing functions, save them in a Braille file format, and then print them as paper Braille documents. BES has become the standard Braille editor in Japan and was used by Braille volunteers when they spent ten years transcribing five major dictionaries into Braille. BES is also a key component of the Braille Forum Network that shares Braille data nationwide. With an interface is similar to that of a Braille typewriter, it allows volunteers to input Braille easily.
When Asakawa began to research and develop assistive technologies, she was starting from scratch. As a pioneer in the field, her first challenge was to make people understand the importance of a computer-based Braille environment, which would eliminate problems with paper-based Braille transcription and reduce workloads. In addition it offered a new and effective way to create Braille books, while offering blind users a drastically different delivery system for Braille books.
After developing BES and building up the Braille Forum Network, she and her team traveled all over Japan to teach volunteers. As a result of her efforts, the Braille Forum Network has become the standard service system for Braille books in Japan. It also became standard for Braille transcribers to use computer-based Braille transcription and BES is the most widely used Braille editing system.
Asakawa is characteristically modest and appreciative of others in commenting on this work. "I was only one of many involved in developing the Network. I tried to provide my expertise in Braille and computer science -- but there were many challenges in addition to the technology. It was a profound experience to work and share knowledge with so many people from such diverse backgrounds."
As one of IBM's most successful women developers, Asakawa is recognized as a role model and regularly shares her knowledge and experiences by attending and presenting at women's conferences and supporting various diversity-related communities. One of her passions is educating young women on careers in technology. In 2001, she was invited to the IBM Blue "i"s Jam, a two-day program for young students to brainstorm the future of computing, sponsored by the Singapore Ministry of Education. Over 500 participants, including 25 IBM researchers, shared ideas about the future of technology. While leading her session, she explained and demonstrated her work to them, and encouraged these young students to pursue technological careers. Awasaka is a member of two IBM diversity groups and as a woman and as a blind person she welcomes opportunities to share her experiences.
To women interested in an IT research and development career, Asakawa says, "It can be very difficult to keep pursuing your career, but I believe nothing is impossible if you work hard, make continuous effort and never give up. I have had many mentors to help me, in IBM and I highly recommend the mentoring process to others."
Asakawa has exciting plans concerning accessible technology. "My current goal is to provide accessibility and usability on the web not only for people with disabilities, but also for all people including older people, novice users and children. My team will launch the accessibility and usability enabling service on w3.ibm.com this year, collaborating with the w3 intranet team to show pages accessible for all people. We hope this will enable IBM to provide a truly usable and accessible web site within the IBM customer site. We also hope this will encourage our customers to renovate or create their own usable and accessible sites."