If you’ve ever been to SXSW, you may have had the good fortune to meet Hugh Forrest, the event director of SXSW-Interactive. Hugh is a real prince of a guy, ever so humble, hard-working and full of heart.
I think part of the magic of SXSWi is Hugh. And this year, Hugh also served as chair of the Knowbility Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR). For many years, Hugh has recognized the importance of accessibility and web standards, making sure these topics have a voice at SXSW. At the AIR Awards ceremony this week I learned how accessibility has personally touched Hugh’s life. I asked Hugh if I could share an excerpt of his speech:
Statistics tell us that 1 in 5 of us will experience some form of disability during our lifetime, either from disease, injury, birth complications or other life event. Indeed, I think everyone in this room can relate some kind of story about how accessibility has made things easier for themselves or a loved one. To that end, let me sidetrack for a few minutes to tell you how this concept has impacted me.
I grew up in Austin — went to Casis Elementary, then O’Henry, then graduated from Austin High. I have two older sisters who also followed the same academic trajectory. My oldest sister now lives in California and we have always had a pretty good relationship. As for the sister who is closer to me in age, we went through a painful period beginning in the mid 1990s. As family issues sometime go, what started off as a relatively minor conflict soon elevated into a larger problem. And, eventually, it became something that was big enough that we weren’t talking to each other any more. Complete silence. This went on for maybe three or four years. My sister made several efforts to reach out to me. But, for whatever reason that seemed appropriate at the time, I rejected these efforts — and the stalemate between us continued.
Finally, one day, some kind of light-bulb turned on in my head and I decided to grow up a little. After so many years of actively avoiding her, I located her phone number and I called. This was a huge step, a step that I’m proud I finally had the courage to make. But, of course, that first step is nothing without a second and a third step to followup with. More specifically . . what do you talk about to someone when you haven’t talked to this person in several years? How do you make small talk when you have done everything possible to avoid all talk for so long? Well . . as it turns out, my sister had been doing some work with John Slatin — work that I knew about through various SXSW-related channels. So . . the first time my sister and I talked again after years of silence . .. much of the conversation was focused on accessibility. She talked about why she thought accessibility was important. I talked about why I though accessibility was good. I talked about the accessibility programming we had done at SXSW and the reasons we had done this. She told me how much she admired the work of Dr. Slatin.
As I recall, there were quite a few awkward silences in the course of that first conversation. But, armed with the always-relevant topic of accessiblity, we made it through. And, we also made it through the next conversation — and the next conversation and the next conversation. That was about three years ago. These days, we talk for about an hour every two weeks. We’ve grown a lot closer and this is a relationship which I value a ton.
Of course, other people in this room probably have much more relevant stories about the power of accessibility. But, I think what I have told you about my relationship with my sister is a telling metaphor. Think about it. Accessibility allows for a basic connection between people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to talk to each other. Accessibility starts a conversation, which is the first step to communication and real understanding and a real relationship. As with me, accessibility can bring together families that have suffered through years of separation. Of equal importance, it can bring together complete strangers in connections that range from the totally mundane to the incredibly profound. In other words, do not ever ever ever underestimate the value of what you are doing with accessibility. You are increasing the possibilities for real communication — and thereby making the world a much better place, one connection and one website at a time. Yes, I think the work you are doing here is absolutely essential in the delicate balance of humanity. For all of what you do . . .thank you, thank you, thank you.
And, likewise, thank you for allowing me to be involved with Air Austin in 2006. I am so proud to be part of an event that pulls together so many creative people who are doing so many good things to make our community so much better.
Hugh took a risk and shared his very personal story…and he is so humble that he doesn’t realize how deeply he touched us and inspired us.