Support statements from micropatronage donors
In 2006, we launched a micropatronage project in which people could donate small sums via E-commerce. The purpose was to underwrite fundraising for the Open & Closed Project – to buy time to raise the Project’s actual funding.
Some 215 donors contributed over $5,000, and many donors wrote their own letters of support, excerpted below.
Antonio Cavedoni
Partner in studio Bunker, of Modena, Italy
I’m writing to express support for Joe Clark and the Open & Closed Project. Some people don’t just treat work as work, they treat it as a mission. Joe Clark’s mission is improving captioning and dubbing and audio description, and has been so for at least 20 years now. I contributed to his micropatronage effort to get the Open & Closed Project proposal started and I’m asking you to let him finish the job, for which he is clearly overqualified.
Disclosure: I’m a personal friend of Joe Clark and helped set up the micropatronage and Screenfont Web sites.
Mel Pedley
Black Widow Web Design
Equality and antidiscrimination are major buzzwords these days. But if they are to be more than just words, we need to ensure that everything we produce is accessible to as wide an audience as possible. This isn’t just the right ethical thing to do. It also makes sound business sense. Maximizing your audience maximizes your profit potential.
However, in order to do this, we need standards – “manuals” that we can all follow whether we’re producing content or developing content players. This is particularly the case within the fields of captioning, audio description, subtitling, and dubbing – fields that are generally fraught with contradictions, ignorance, poor or differing practices and little or no empirical testing. Any proposed standards need to be initially based upon a solid foundation of existing research and then thoroughly tested in the open market. Finally, training and certification programs will be needed to underpin the standards and ensure that future practitioners can provide accessibility services that meet the required levels of quality and can respond to user needs.
As a longtime leading exponent of accessibility, Joe Clark is the ideal person to undertake and coordinate a project of this type. Black Widow Web Design is proud to support the Open & Closed Project and I can only encourage you to consider adding your support so that the larger community may benefit.
D. Christian Harrison
The Open & Closed Project won my support on two fronts: By offering to serve an under-served/poorly-served community, and Joe Clark’s place at its helm.
The Project, in the great scheme of things, appears to be the child of two disparate streams. First, it is most definitely a product of a generation no longer content to allow marginalized groups to remain as such. Second, it is the child of the internet culture, which scoffs at nay-sayers... and brings the Web’s considerable resources to bear on bottom-up social change through technical innovation. As for Joe, his drive and acumen are legendary in the Web communities he frequents, to say nothing of his bonafides in the industry.
It’s my bet that this project is the right thing, at the right time, by the right person – and it’s a bet backed by solid cash.
Dan Champion
The work of the Open & Closed Project will have far-reaching benefits for people with disabilities throughout the world. From my work in the field of Web accessibility I have a deep appreciation of the power of standards founded on robust research and testing, and wholeheartedly support Joe Clark and his associates in their efforts to harness this power in the realm of accessible media.
Dr. David Sloan
Digital Media Access Group, Dundee, Scotland
I have worked as an academic researcher and consultant in the field of accessibility of online digital media, including Web-based video and audio, since 1999. In that time, I have come to the view there is no one better qualified than Joe Clark to conduct independent, thorough, robust and credible research in the area of the accessibility of broadcast media to disabled people.
Dorothea Salo
Digital Repository Librarian, University of Wisconsin System
Joe Clark knows more about accessibility than anyone I can think of. He pushes himself hard to keep up with the state of the art, and his every opinion (and he has many!) about the subject is founded on experience and testing. No one is better suited to bring order out of the chaos that currently characterizes accessibility research and practice.
Ian Lloyd
I do not know of many people who can muster as much enthusiasm and support for issues relating to captioning and accessibility in general. The fact that he has managed to get so much grassroots support – including the financial backing of many people – is evidence that there are a great number of people who believe that, with a little support, he can make things happen. He may tell you things that you may not want to hear from time to time, but better to have someone who tells it to you straight so that you can put it right than be surrounded by yes-men.
Scott Baldwin
About four years ago I was beginning work on a new site and came across Joe’s book Building Accessible Websites. On a whim, I wrote to him asking him for help. Not only did he write back, he listened, gave advice and shared his ideas. With his help, North Shore Credit Union (NSCU.com) was the first Canadian credit union to offer a Web site accessible to people with disabilities.
I first heard of Joe’s ideas around his accessibility research project when he stayed at my place a few years ago while attending a conference here in Vancouver. It was clear then, as it is now, that Joe not only knows about accessibility, but also the impact design and accessibility can have on the public who use interactive mediums such as the Web and TV. I can’t think of a better or more qualified individual to lead this charge.
Ivan Dossev
I believe in standards and feel that Joe Clark has a sound long-term plan for strong media accessibility standards. That is why I donated.
Karl Dawson
Joe Clark has the passion, will and expertise to make the Open & Closed Project an important and thorough examination and standardization of captioning, audio description, subtitling, and dubbing. That the research-derived standards will be tested in the field for a year before training and certification programs are devised is testament to the Project’s thoroughness and relevancy. I continue to derive my professional passion in Web accessibility from Joe’s writings (in fact his book got me started in the field) and I hope that my grassroots support of this Project can be matched by organizations working directly with the technologies and methods at hand.
Larry Halff
Founder, Ma.gnolia.com
We chose to support the Open & Closed Project because we know the need for the resources it will develop. As makers of information management software, we see plainly that access to information is critical to anyone who wants live a productive and dignified life in our society. Having benefitted from Joe Clark’s work in Web accessibility, and understanding the reach and depth of his knowledge, we believe he has the intellect, contacts and stamina needed to bring together the state of the art in captioning, audio description, subtitling, and dubbing. Such a resource would be of tremendous benefit to those who require fully accessible media, and to those who strive to bring it to them.
Michael Herring
I’m supporting Joe Clark in this project because he’s taught me all sorts of Web accessibility best practices and techniques through his book and Web site. The world needs Joe Clark and his tireless efforts to expose barriers that effect all kinds of disabled people.
Michael Williams
Ph.D. student, Rudolph Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford
The Open & Closed Project aims to fill lacunæ in our understanding of accessible media. The confusion and ignorance that currently affect this demonstrably important field are unnecessary and unwelcome. I can think of no one better than Joe Clark to lead the Project. He is fair, tenacious, and motivated. With financial and other support, Joe Clark’s work promises to make Canada a world leader in rigorous research into accessible media.
Noel D. Jackson
I would have been highly surprised had the idea for standards in the area of captioning and accessibility not come from Joe Clark. He’s articulate, kind, insanely poignant and a great person – not to mention an accessibility guru. Being a Web developer, I know how important standards are to the World Wide Web; bringing standards to other mediums is something sorely needed. I have utmost respect and trust in Joe, and I know that he will not only succeed greatly but also make the world a better place with the advent of the Open & Closed Project.
Patrick Taylor
I am writing to endorse Mr. Joe Clark’s Open & Closed Project. I am a Canadian with family members and friends who have faced barriers as a result of hearing, visual or cognitive handicaps (not least the hearing loss faced by both of my aging parents). As a result, I have followed the Open & Closed Project with interest. My family is but one of millions dealing with accessibility issues in Canada and around the world; it is an audience that is growing daily.
I believe accessibility is an area where Canadian broadcasters can – and should – be on the forefront. Mr. Clark’s project could be a benefit not just for Canadian families, your immediate audiences, but a model for broadcasters around the world.
Mr. Clark’s work and commitment to accessibility have impressed me greatly over the years and I can’t imagine a better, more qualified person to lead this project. I am very excited to see what his project can do for multimedia and broadcast.
Thank you for considering his project and I hope Mr. Clark will hear good news from you. I strongly encourage you to support his vitally important work.
Richard Quick
Richard Quick Design
I am supporting Joe Clark in his effort to set up the Open & Closed research project.
Access to information has become a fundamental human right for disabled people. As technology advances – and multimedia becomes more important – it’s important to ensure that all information is accessible to people with disabilities, including video-based information.
Robert Jan Verkade
Eend – Maakt Internet Menselijk
There is a need for new, modern guidelines based on evidence and research. The Open & Closed Project will provide that, and I hope that they will provide it quickly. I’ve supported Joe because I trust his knowledge and his pragmatic views on accessibility.
Russell S. Vaught
We are all only temporarily able. It is likely that each of us will at some point be less able. As a person who is hearing-impaired, I know how isolating that can be. Physical limitations do not necessarily have to result in societal limitations.
Technology has the potential to enable, but it can only do so when used with skill and care. Captioning, audio description, subtitling, and dubbing are all important tools in overcoming limits to perception of media, but they can easily be ineffectively applied. For example, all too often captioning is placed in the wrong position on the screen thereby reducing the information content being conveyed.
Joe’s efforts to train others to effectively use technology are worthy of support. I urge others to do so.
Sigrún Þorsteinsdóttir
Senior Accessibility Consultant for SJÁ, Iceland
I support the micropatronage campaign and believe that the work Joe Clark is doing on improving audio description/closed captioning is extremely important and will benefit a great deal of people. I hope he gets all the support he needs for his research.
Ted Page
I am a Web producer for one of the public-service broadcasters in London. I contributed to Joe Clark’s micropatronage campaign because I strongly believe that the work that the Open & Closed Project is proposing to undertake would be of immense value to Web site users everywhere. I also believe that there is no one more experienced or better qualified than Joe to lead the project.