UW staff honored for disabled access technology

The National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPRG) recently presented the coveted Hammer Award to a team led by the Department of Education, including three people from UW–Madison.

Following closely on President Clinton’s commitment to make the federal government “a model user of assistive technology,” the award recognizes the team’s effort to produce comprehensive requirements for accessible software design.

Members of the team included individuals from UW–Madison’s Trace Research and Development Center, Microsoft, and IBM. Professor Gregg C. Vanderheiden, Director of the Trace Center, and Trace staff members Mark Novak and Neal Ewers, were honored with individual Hammer Awards at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Vice President Al Gore introduced the Hammer Award in 1993 to recognize teams of federal employees, state and local employees, and citizens, who are making government work better and cost less. Created as a direct response to the $400 hammers uncovered in government budgets by federal auditors, the Hammer Award consists of a $6 carpenter’s hammer, a ribbon, and a note from the Vice President, all in an aluminum frame.

The Department of Education’s Assistive Technology Team established the requirements for accessibility software design to ensure the accessibility of its programs and activities to individuals with disabilities. The guidelines also are used widely by federal agencies.

For more information, please contact Gregg Vanderheiden, Trace R&D Center, 263-5788.