Judy Brewer directs the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), part of MIT CSAIL.
Her work includes coordinating development of accessibility standards, guidelines and best practices for digital technologies, including the web, mobile, digital publishing, virtual reality, web of things, automotive, and other technologies that are emerging onto the web. It includes coordinating improvement of automated and manual resources for evaluation of web sites; education and outreach resources; and research which will impact future web accessibility. It includes promoting harmonization of web accessibility standards internationally.
WAI guidelines include the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1; the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines and User Agent Accessibility Guidelines; and Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA). W3C WAI standards and guidelines have been taken up by many organizations and governments around the world to help ensure equal access for over a billion people with disabilities worldwide.
Current interests include expanding access to digital accessibility for people in under-resourced regions and communities around the world, and exploring the potential of virtual and hybrid meetings and gatherings to improve connections between people with disabilities and others.
Prior to joining W3C, Brewer worked on initiatives to increase access to assistive technology and mainstream information and communications technology. She has a background in management, technical writing, education, applied linguistics, disability advocacy, and biotechnology.
Media:
2019: TEDxMIT: Creating an Accessible Digital Future
Serves on:
MIT Advisory Board for Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing, 2019 – Present
Selected awards:
2014: Newell Perry Award from the US National Federation of the Blind in 2014
2015: Migel Medal from the American Foundation for the Blind in 2015
2018: ACM SIGACCESS Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computing and Accessibility
2022: ACM 2021 Policy Award for leading the Web Accessibility Initiative and development of accessibility standards and guidelines
“The Role of Standards in Improving Digital Accessibility in Under-Resourced Regions and Communities.” In “Accessible Technology and the Developing World,” Jonathan Lazar and Michael Stein, Eds.
“Imperatives for the Web: Broad Societal Needs.” 50th Anniversary of National Academy of Engineering’s Bridge quarterly
National Academy of Engineering, 2020
Shadi Abou-Zahra, Judy Brewer, and Michael Cooper.
"Web Standards to Enable an Accessible and Inclusive Internet of Things (IoT)." Proceedings of the 14th Web for All Conference, W4A, Perth, Western Australia.
“Chapter 1: Standards Bodies, Access to Information Technology, and Human Rights.” Disability, Human Rights, and Information Technology, Jonathan Lazar and Michael Ashley Stein, Eds.
“Chapter 33: Accessibility of the World Wide Web: Technical and Policy Perspectives.” Universal Design Handbook, Wolfgang Preiser, Korydon Smith, Eds.
McGraw-Hill, 2010
Judy Brewer
“Access to Medical Instrumentation: The Role of Web Accessibility.” Medical Instrumentation: Accessibility and Usability Considerations, Jack Winters, Molly Follette Story, Eds., 2006.
CRC Press, 2006
Judy Brewer
“Web Accessibility Highlights and Trends.” Web4All: Proceedings of the international cross-disciplinary workshop on Web accessibility. May 2004, pp. 51 – 55.
This community is interested in understanding and affecting the interaction between computing systems and society through engineering, computer science and public policy research, education, and public engagement.
This CoR aims to develop AI technology that synthesizes symbolic reasoning, probabilistic reasoning for dealing with uncertainty in the world, and statistical methods for extracting and exploiting regularities in the world, into an integrated picture of intelligence that is informed by computational insights and by cognitive science.
Led by Web inventor and Director, Tim Berners-Lee and CEO Jeff Jaffe, the W3C focus is on leading the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing standards, protocols and guidelines that ensure the long-term growth of the Web
