I’m continually impressed by the ways in which both hardware and software technology serve to enable basic access to computing for all people – including those with disabilities.

Case in point – a new hardware setup, designed for people with spinal cord injuries that allows them to control their computer with their tongue (via engadget, with hat tip to James Craig).

Continue reading Innovations in Accessibility

I’ve been waiting to announce this for a few weeks now, so I’m very pleased to finally be able to tell everyone (or at least everyone that reads this blog) that I’ve managed to get Jeff Smith to become part of the Further Ahead team. He officially started today. Jeff has loads of experience and brings a lot to the team as a standards-based designer/developer hybrid.

Jeff and I have been talking on and off for some time now about him possibly doing contract work for me on an “as needed” basis. That work would be during his freelance time, though, as Jeff had a full-time job, and that just wasn’t going to solve my problems.

Despite the fact that I hadn’t met Jeff in person (we have known each other for quite some time online), we had a few serious discussions before and after Christmas. At that point, I decided that I was ready – or more accurately, I decided that I was more than 80% ready. 80% ready is the new metric I use to decide if it is time to do something. That is based on the following premise:

If you wait until you’re 100% ready, you’ll never do anything.

You will never be 100% ready, but once you’re 80% ready, you’re committed and the rest is details.

When I met Jeff at Web Directions North, I knew I had made the right decision, and I’m really happy to have him on board.

Please join me in welcoming Jeff to the team!