Neal Ewers spent much of his young life in a rural community called Possum Hollow. Since graduating from college, he has worked at the Library of Congress, been a concert pianist, studied at the University of Wisconsin in Madison where he also taught Sociology at the University Extension. He has also directed a telephone crisis intervention service, and operated a non-profit organization called Inner-Vision, which worked to help sighted people learn to use their voice and their non-visual senses to more effectively understand themselves and communicate with others.
In 1979, Neal opened a recording company which eventually became Ravenswood Productions where he recorded live concerts, narrations, podcasts, etc. His knowledge of recording techniques, editing, and postproduction also made it possible for him to produce and market CDs containing some of his original compositions, in addition to other well known pieces.
Singing is also one of his passions. He has sung all 4 vocal parts at some point in his life. His voice has been a part of numerous choirs. One of his greatest joys was singing under the direction of Robert Fountain who conducted the University of Wisconsin Concert Choir for 25 years.
In 1992, Neal was hired by the Trace Research and Development Center; a pioneer in the field of technology and disability since 1971. At Trace, Neal worked directly with computer companies and other information technology companies, to integrate disability access features into their standard, mass-marketed products. Neal was a member of the team that authored computer accessibility guidelines which have been adopted by computer companies such as Microsoft. He was also part of the team that wrote the first Internet accessibility guidelines, now a part of the W3C’s “World Accessibility Initiative.” He also worked on the design and accessibility of electronic voting machines and the post office kiosk.
He is a co-producer and narrator of a number of videos on accessibility including: “Introduction to the Screen Reader,” “Designing More Usable Web Sites,” “Screen Magnification and the Web,” and “Listening to Learn.”
He is a key resource on the national scene having amassed knowledge of both the problems and the needs of people with blindness, low vision, physical impairments, cognitive impairments, and learning disabilities. As he says, “We used to think that persons with particular disabilities had special needs that could only be accommodated by assistive technology specifically designed to meet the unique needs of each disability population. We now know that it is only by designing products and information that are accessible to all, that we will ever be able to offer everyone the technology they need to live effective, productive lives. We also know that many of the solutions first thought to be helpful to persons with disabilities also have far reaching implications for increasing the potential of persons who do not consider themselves disabled.”
In 2006, Neal retired from the Trace Center in order to devote his time to cross-disability solutions that would work for all persons with and without disabilities. He serves on a number of committees and task forces, and is a consultant to many companies who produce assistive technology and others who produce mainstream products. He is sought as a consultant worldwide on subjects including: product development, web design and access, computers and operating systems, software applications, music and audio production, effective vocal communication, and non-visual ways of ‘seeing’.
For 10 years, Neal was an adjunct co-instructor at a local college in Madison, Wisconsin teaching a class on ‘Lifetime Legacies: Life Review with Hospice Patients’.
He also does lectures for schools and colleges on such topics as: discrimination against and stereotypes of persons who are disabled; differences in perception and learning styles between people who see and people who are blind; interesting philosophical constructs and other general information he has learned along the way; information about the technology he uses each day; numerous very funny stories drawn from his life; and the knowledge that we are all disabled in some way and are thus dependent on others to complete our life as a whole person.
Neal currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife, Ginevra. As he says, “She is, and always will be, my Queen.”