Chieko Asakawa ( 浅川 智 恵 子 ) is a blind Japanese computer scientist known for her work at in Tokyo in the industry of developing affordable interfaces [1] . The browser plug- in “Netscape”, which she developed, “IBM Home Page Reader”, has become the most common system for scoring web pages [2] . Asakawa became the laureate of numerous industry and state awards.
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Education and career
Asakawa was born with normal vision, but began to go blind after she damaged the optic nerve after an accident while swimming; at 14, she stopped seeing [1] . She received a bachelor's degree in English literature from Otemon Gakuin University, Osaka in 1982, after which she began a two-year computer programming course for blind people using the Optacon, which translates print into tactile sensations. She joined IBM Research in a temporary position in 1984 [1] , and became a full-time researcher a year later [1] [3] . In 2004, she received a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Tokyo [1] .
Scientific Contribution
Asakawa's research projects included developing a word processor for Braille documents, an electronic library for Braille documents, developing a plug-in for the Netscape browser, which converted text to speech and added a more convenient web search engine for blind people, as well as developing a system that would allow sighted web developers to gain experience exploring the Internet from the perspective of blind people [1] [3] [4] .
Asakawa's plugin became an IBM product in 1997, the “IBM Home Page Reader,” and for five years it has been the most common text-to-speech system available [2] . Later, she took up the management of accessible multimedia content for people with disabilities [5] , technological and social changes that would allow older people to work longer before retiring [6] [7] , and the development of technology that would make the physical world more accessible to blind people [8] .
Awards and insignia
Asakawa was inducted into the International Women's Technology Hall of Fame in 2003 [9] . She received the title of IBM Fellow, the highest award of IBM for its employees, in 2009, thus becoming the fifth Japanese citizen and the first Japanese woman to receive such an award [10] . In 2011, the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology awarded her the Women of Vision Award [11] [12] . She was a key speaker at the Fourth International Conference on Software Development for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion , DSAIE 2012 [7] . In 2013, the Japanese government awarded her the Medal of Honor with a Purple Ribbon [3] . An article she wrote in 1998 with Takashi Ito describing their work in the web interface for blind people won in English. ACM SIGACCESS Impact Award 2013 [13] .
- Introduced to the US National Inventors Hall of Fame (2019)
Links
Sources
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strickland, Eliza (January 31,2012), " Dream Jobs 2012: Web Guru for the Blind; IBM researcher Chieko Asakawa can't see your website, but she can make it better ", IEEE Spectrum , < http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/profiles/dream-job-2012-web-guru-for-the-blind >
- ↑ 1 2 Waddell, Cynthia; Regan, Bob; Henry, Shawn Lawton & Burks, Michael R. (2003), Constructing Accessible Web Sites , Apress, p. 58, ISBN 9781430211167 , < https://books.google.com/books?id=FkcnCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 >
- ↑ 1 2 3 Sciacca, Chris (April 29, 2013), IBM Fellow Chieko Asakawa awarded Medal of Honor , IBM Research , < http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/2013/04/ibm-fellow-chieko-asakawa-awarded -medal.html >
- ↑ Sawaji, Osamu (December 2011), " Yamato Nadeshiko: Pioneering Accessibility ", Highlighting Japan (Public Relations Office, Government of Japan) , < http://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/ hl / html / 201112 / 201112_10.html > (inaccessible link)
- ↑ Weiss, Todd R. (April 2, 2007), " IBM Researcher Aims to Improve Web Access for Visually Impaired ", Computerworld : 19 , < https://books.google.com/books?id=qRHGm2K84U4C&pg=PA19 >
- ↑ Shah, Rawn (November 22,2011), " In a Few Years Nations May May Us Us to Work Years Past Retirement Age ", Forbes , < https://www.forbes.com/sites/rawnshah/2011/11/22 / in-a-few-years-nations-may-need-us-to-work-years-past-retirement-age / >
- ↑ 1 2 Keynote speakers , < http://dsai2012.utad.pt/?page_id=110 > . Retrieved August 14, 2015. .
- ↑ Calabro, Tina (December 16, 2013), " Breaking Down Barriers: Creating a more disability-friendly city: Use of creative thinking and technology could spark new ways to improve accessibility ", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , < http: // www .post-gazette.com / news / health / 2013/12/16 / Creating-a-more-disability-friendly-city / stories / 201312160014 > .
- ↑ Featured Profile: Chieko Asakawa, Group Leader, IBM Tokyo, Accessibility Research, IBM , Women in Technology International , < http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/179651/Chieko-Asakawa-Group-Leader, -IBM-Tokyo, -Accessibility-Research-IBM / > .
- ↑ IBM researcher Chieko Asakawa awarded prestigious Fellow title , The Maininichi Newspapers , 2009 , < http://www.seniorsworldchronicle.com/2009/06/japan-ibm-researcher-chieko-asakawa.html > Archived March 5, 2016 on the Wayback Machine .
- ↑ Schultz, Morgon Mae (June 2011), " Without Sight, a Visionary Leader: Chieko Asakawa connects disabled users to the Web ", IBM Systems Magazine , < http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/power/trends/whatsnew/chieko_asakawa / > .
- ↑ Anita Borg Institute Announces 2011 Women of Vision Award Winners , March 7, 2011 , < https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/07/idUS127959+07-Mar-2011+MW20110307 > .
- ↑ Information Director (October 28, 2013), Chieko Asakawa and Takashi Itoh: 2013 Impact Award , SIGACCESS , < http://www.sigaccess.org/2013/10/2013-impact-award/ > .