Biography: Sean Stapleford
On the last day of Sean Stapleford´s junior year in high school he dived into the James River - and broke his neck. The year was 1972, and he was paralyzed from his shoulders down.
Today he lives in The Virginia Home, an adult residential-care facility in Richmond, VA.
From his hospital room Sean skillfully operates a "mouth stick" to navigate his computer screen, jumping from Web site to Web site while communicating with others using a host of assistive technology.
A computer monitor, suspended from an overhead swing arm, is mounted on his headboard, and an Environmental Control Unit (ECU) operates as a universal remote control - accessing his TV, VCR, stereo, phone, the nurse call bell, and his electric bed.
Sean is an expert. Despite limited use of his hands, he can press keys, turn pages and operate switches and speaker phones with ease. This ability to navigate the world of technology has provided an opportunity to experience meaningful recreation, socialization and employment.
In recent years advancements in electronic and information technology have helped Sean become more involved and integrated in day-to-day living in Richmond - and across the world.
Working for TecAccess, Sean telecommutes each day from his room at the Virginia Home. Widely considered one of the best "accessibility testers" in the world, the tech-minded teleworker has the ability to communicate with other teleworking colleagues as far away as India and Japan with a quick flick of his mouth stick.
Sean is not only taking advantage of this recent move toward telecommuting in the business sector but also a general push in government and private industry to make technology more accessible to disabled commuter users and the elderly.
While Section 508 may be helping spur this movement- it´s Sean Stapleford and his coworkers at TecAccess that are making sure the world continues to listen.
Though the law does not apply to private industry, Sean is helping business leaders across the country realize the economic impact and market share that is currently up for grabs for those who make their electronic and information technology accessible.
Because of this realization across the globe, Sean is now finding more and more aspects of technology becoming easier to use in his personal life despite his physical limitations. Best of all, his job role at TecAccess ties directly into this movement, as he is hired to assist clients from all backgrounds to better understand the return on investment for those who make their technology accessible to all user groups.
Sean, along with 50 of his co-workers, many of whom have disabilities, continues to lead this charge.
Best of all, Sean is allowed the opportunity to use his unique perspective of having a disability as a key component to the accessibility advice he doles out to such clients each day. In return, he is effectively shaping the world of accessible technology far past his home town of Richmond, teaching others the social, legal and pro-business aspects of accessible design.
