[Irl-dean] Vote for me

[Mark Magennis]

Hello,

As you are probably aware, there is an election going on. No, not that
one in the United States to elect the person who's going to run the
world for the next for years. There's a far more important one than
that. The Irish Internet Association are dishing out their annual Net
Visionary awards. And I've been nominated in the Social Contribution
category. Yay! Woo! If I was to win, it would be a great boost for
Internet accessibility because it would raise a bit of awareness and
give me a good platform to trumpet about how important it is. So, I'm
asking you to please vote for me. All you have to do is go to
www.netvisionary.ie/votenom.html, enter your name and details into the
form, click on the radio button next to my name, then click the Vote Now
button at the bottom of the page. I'm the fifth name, under the Social
Contribution heading. Anyone is allowed to vote, with a limit of 3
people per organisation, so try to get two of your colleagues to vote as
well. Don't vote if you're an NCBI employee though, we've got that one
covered. Voting ends this Friday, the 5th November, so please vote
before then. Here is a description of who I am and what I've done, if
you're wondering why I might deserve an award.

Dr. Mark Magennis has been working in Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
for over 15 years. After a number of years of research and practice in
user interface design and usability evaluation, Mark jumped aboard the
dot com boom by joining Frontend Usability Engineering Ltd. as Head of
Usability. Frontend embraced accessibility and Mark worked on
researching and writing the Irish National Disability Authority's IT
accessibility guidelines (http://accessIT.nda.ie). These have received
wide acclaim as an accessible, usable resource for all those involved in
procuring or developing IT systems. As a result of this experience, Mark
decided to turn his full attention to inclusive design and addressing
the needs of older users and users with disabilities. He joined the
National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) in 2002 to manage a
number of European Union funded research projects on assistive
technologies and accessible computer training. He has now founded the
NCBI Centre for Inclusive Technology (CFIT), which aims to raise
awareness of the importance of inclusive design and accessibility in
Ireland, through research, advocacy and consultancy.

Thanks very much,
Mark