James W. Thatcher (original) (raw)

James W. Thatcher (March 25, 1936 – December 7, 2019) was an American computer scientist, and the inventor of the first screen reader, a type of assistive technology that enables the use of a computer by people with visual impairments. Thatcher was also important to the development of the accessibility consulting industry. Among many other awards, Thatcher was awarded the first ACM SIG Access Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computing and Accessibility for his contributions to digital accessibility in 2008.