From Starfish to Butterfly ... the Amazing Story of the AccessAbility SIG

摘要

This paper describes the remarkable history of the Society's newest Special Interest Group—the AccessAbility SIG—tracing it back to its origins in 1997 as the Special Needs Committee (SNC). The SNC, founded by Judy Skinner, was originally chartered to assist technical communicators with disabilities in the practice of our profession by researching and publicizing assistive technologies and techniques to overcome those limitations. Over its 5-year lifespan, the committee expanded its mission to include a second overarching goal—assisting all technical communicators in developing information products that are fully accessible to end users with disabilities. Its accomplishments included a data-rich yet eye-pleasing online newsletter, an ever-growing comprehensive web site that is becoming a definitive resource on accessibility, and a robust and dynamic listserv. In 2002, the SNC was transformed into a SIG. The SIG grew rapidly, gaining significant subject matter expertise in accessibility that has carried it to the cutting edge of an emerging new specialty niche within the profession and an important part of the technical communicator's toolkit. Renamed the AccessAbility SIG in 2003, the organization now includes nearly 300 members representing a dozen nations. The SIG continues to expand its influence on, and contributions to, the new communications science of accessibility. It has also preserved its legacy as a support group—not just to technical communicators with disabilities, but, increasingly, to all who come to us with special needs.