Michael Hingson joins web accessibility startup accessiBe to help drive its vision of a global accessible internet by 2025.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / ACCESSWIRE / February 2, 2021 / accessiBe, the world's leading AI-powered web accessibility solution, welcomes Michael Hingson into the role of Chief Vision Officer. Hingson, who is blind since birth, will play a key role in helping accessiBe reach its goal of making the entire internet accessible by 2025.
Hingson is a hero to many throughout the world, who have been continuously inspired by his escape from the Twin Towers during 9/11. With the help of his guide dog, Roselle, Hingson walked down 78 floors and made it out of the building just as it collapsed. This remarkable experience caught international media attention and made him into a highly-regarded speaker, but Hingson's life up until that point was no less noteworthy.
Brought up by parents who encouraged him to live a successful and productive life, Hingson grew up wandering and exploring the outdoors, riding his bike, and earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Hingson went on to earn a master's degree in physics and a secondary teaching credential from the University of California, Irvine. He enjoyed a successful 25-year career in sales and management in high-tech before 9/11 brought a career pivot for him to become an internationally-acclaimed speaker. Mr. Hingson says, "Even speaking for me is actually a form of sales as I constantly work to sell to my audience that I am no different than they are and that blind people should be recognized as having the same right to fully live in the world as everyone else."
Hingson's first book, Thunder Dog, was published in 2011. It became an instant success, appearing as a #1 best selling book on the New York Times Bestseller list. His second book, Running With Roselle, was published in 2013. Hingson has appeared in countless newspaper interviews, on radio and television programs including five segments on CNN's Larry King Live, Animal Planet, Discovery, and other major television networks.
Hingson's determination to live a full life with his disability makes him an excellent fit for accessiBe. Like Hingson, accessiBe believes that people with disabilities should enjoy all the same interactions and experiences as those who are not considered disabled. As Hingson says, "many people mistakenly believe that eyesight is the only game in town."
But with the right solution, web content can be enjoyed by users who are blind or have other vision impairments as well as those who have other disabilities.
As the Chief Vision Officer at accessiBe, Hingson will serve as a trusted voice that explains the need to use robust, scalable technology to solve the challenge of web inaccessibility.
accessiBe is based on the observation that AI technology is the best solution to tackle the enormous amount of content across the internet and immediately open it to all users, including those with disabilities.
"We've seen repeatedly that manual accessibility solutions are both too expensive and too slow to handle most websites today," says Shir Ekerling, CEO and co-founder of accessiBe. "Only an AI-driven approach can make accessibility affordable and achievable for 99% of websites that are owned by small-and-medium businesses. That's the only scalable way that works today. With accessiBe, inserting a single line of code in a web site is all that is required to provide inclusive access for everyone."
Ekerling and his team are excited for the possibilities that Hingson will open. As the new CVO, Hingson will forge connections with new partners and help educate the wider public about the need for an accessible internet. "Michael's remarkable experiences, familiarity with the high-tech world, and warm personality put him in a unique position to drive adoption of our solution, taking us one step closer in fulfilling our vision," says Ekerling.
Ekerling has always kept his ultimate goal in mind; to make the entire internet accessible by 2025. accessiBe is planning a major expansion into the American market this year, and Hingson will be playing a key role.
Hingson himself is looking forward to it. "Frankly, there's no reason why the Internet should be inaccessible and ridden with solutions that simply don't work or cost more than the websites themselves," he says. "It's time for businesses to take responsibility for including people with disabilities and recognizing the huge untapped market persons with disabilities bring, and accessiBe's AI-powered solution leaves them with no excuse."
About the company
accessiBe was established in 2018 by a trio of experienced marketing and ad agency owners. Their work with SMBs opened their eyes to the need for an AI-powered accessibility solution that would make it easy for website owners to open up their websites to users with disabilities.
Since its launch in 2018, accessiBe has consistently expanded its client base across the US and other countries, while also continually refining its solution in response to ongoing consumer research.
For more information, visit: https://accessiBe.com
Website owner? Test if your website is ADA & WCAG compliant with accessiBe's fast and immediate tool at: https://ace.accessiBe.com/
Contact:
Nadav Dakner
PR & Communications
[email protected]
+972524382104
SOURCE: accessiBe