I have always been passionate about connecting people and seen the web as the tool of choice for overcoming traditional barriers such as location, culture, ability or disability. While I come from a web accessibility background I feel very strongly that accessibility isn’t just about being able to access if you’re disabled but also if you’re from a different background, culture, age-group, speak a different language or browse on different devices such as hand-helds and mobiles. As such this blog looks at the overlaps of web accessibility, internationalisation, and mobile access together with the importance of web standards.

I started off as an English editor for an online magazine back in the late 90′s in Shanghai, China. It wasn’t long after that that I got into the usability of websites and followed by web accessibility. Web design was a lot different back then and I found myself championing usability, getting it onto the agenda of web design projects as well as setting up quality assurance and test plans.

I went on to work for a leading Chinese search engine and shopping channel, managing the development of dual language e-commerce systems. From there myself and three friends worked on our own start-up establishing a virtual market place for Chinese manufacturers and Western buyers. This included a duel language cataloguing system and negotiation tool linked up to a secure payment system.

I’m currently a Web Accessibility Consultant in the UK and when not at work spend time raising money for a friends son, Sam, who was paralysed in a road accident, kick boxing and traveling wherever and whenever I can.

Memberships and affiliations

• Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG)
• Web Standards Project, International liaison Working Group
• UN Global Initiative for Inclusive ICT (G3ICT)
• HTML Writers Guild

All opinions stated in this blog are my own and not necessarily that of my employers.