Mary Davis: In the early nineteenth century, Pellegrino Turri of italy built an early version of the typewritter in Italy for a blind friend so that she may write to him legibly. More than 60 years later, Alexander Grahm Bell was trying to find ways to help the hearing impaired, a by-product of whic became the telephone. In both cases, both men were involved in assistive technology development. The creation of a device to aid a person with a disability so that they may perform an essential task that might otherwise be challenging to achieve. There have been other innovators and inventors since Turri and Bell who follow in their path. I'd like to introduce to you one more of those innovators. Please welcome 2011 Paul G. Hearne award winner Miss Catharine McNally.
*applause*
Catharine McNally: Thank you so much. It is an honor, and I am humbled tonight to be in the company of my fellow honorees and the impressiveness of past Hearne award laureates. And I have to thank my family for not only teaching me to not only think out of the box but also to follow through with these ideas. As you can recall from the remarks in my video, the transcript of an audio tour just wasn't very exciting. I simply wanted to see what most people hear. My idea of creating accessible iPod video yours for all museums across the country seemed like a pretty far-reaching dream. But back in 2006, I soon saw that my vision could quickly become much bigger. I started to think "what if the iPod somehow knew where we were? And how awesome would it be if our iPods and phones became one device? And what if someone made it a law that videos on the web and our phones had to be captioned?" And all those felt like huge, dramatic dreams just five years ago. Well guess what? Every single one of those dreams came true. In 2007... *applause* In 2007, handheld mobile devices and smartphones became much more dynamic. They now know where you are, right here, at the Ronald Reagan International Center. These smartphones can play videos in the palm of our hands. Perhaps you've even watched an episode of Glee on a phone on the commute home. And for those of you who couldn't watch Glee on the phone, due to lack of captions, or video descriptions, that soon will be a thing of the past thanks to the passage of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. We all deserve a pat on the back. *applause* Together, with AAPD, we passed a new law last year to bring greater awareness in accessibility to video on mobile phones and the web. If we can do that working together what should we dream of next? What if captioning on a mobile device was as easy as touching a button on a phone for English, Spanish, French, or Mandarin? What if the United State's most treasured cultural institutions in art were readily accessible to every single visitor on their mobile device? What if we took Keen Guides beyond the Washington, DC area and made more museums, parks, monuments, more accessible to me and the 36 million people like me across the United States? What if people who didn't even have a disability wanted wanted and needed accessible video tours too? What if we could do it all by next year? After seeing what technology and advocacy could do in just five years since the idea began, I believe we can. Tonight, I have met so many people connected to disability, so many inspiring leaders including in companies, in businesses, in government, and in the grassroots community. So now, let's start working together to make communities in the big cities and the small towns, more accessible and inclusive. We can work together to allow everyone in our communities to see what most people hear and hear what most people see. I look forward to working with you all, and so, thank you very much! *applause*
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Dramatic Acceptance Speechby smellycatwarren44 views
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