brief history
- 1996-2000: worked mainly as a front end developer for hire
- 2001-2006: worked as an accessibility specialist for Vision Australia
- Conducted Accessibility Assessments using WCAG 1.0 as a baseline
- Developed the Web Accessibility Toolbar to aid in manual testing of acessibillity of web page UI
- Developed (with much help) the original Colour Contrast Analyser (Windows version) to test contrast ratio’s.
- Researched, tested and presented on the HTML
titleattribute (2005)
- 2006-2023 worked at The Paciello Group (TPG) (TPGi) in various roles; accessibility consultant, senior consultant, principal consultant, CAO, W3C Rep. and Director of the Knowledge Center.
- 2007 I got involved in the HTML working group at the W3C, was on various taskforces related to HTML and Accessibility.
- 2007 became active in W3C WAI working groups
- 2010 Wrote HTML5: Techniques for providing useful text alternatives which was merged into HTML5 recommendation (by me)
- 2010 I developed HTML5Accessibility.com to test and report the implementation support for new features in HTML.
- 2011 Started work on what became the HTML Accessibility API Mappings 1.0. I co-edited the spec with various people up until 2023
- 2011 Became a co-editor of HTML5 and helped to include accessibility considerations
- 2013 Started collecting practical ARIA usage notes, including the Rules of ARIA
- Developed the specification for the
mainelement, which was merged into the W3C HTML spec - The specification of the
mainelement in HTML5 and the WHATWG HTML remained divergent until after much debate the 2 specs were aligned. - As part of my editor work on HTML5 I removed the
hgroupelement to bring the outline algorithm in line with implementation reality. Worked further on this to improve the specification of the outline algorithm in the the WHATWG HTML specification. The HTML spec was updated (in 2022) after much debate… and my writing of a pull request - 2014 – I tested the browser implementation support for ARIA roles in HTML5 as part of the recommendation exit criteria.
- 2015 I moved the ARIA conformance requirements out of the HTML5 spec into their own spec: ARIA in HTML which I was editor of until 2023.
- 2014 HTML5 became a W3C Recommendation
- 2017 HTML5.2 became a W3C Recommendation
- 2017 Created the JAWS public issue tracker
- 2017 started work on JAWS support for HTML
- 2006-2023 – published articles on the TPGi blog
- 2013-2016 – published articles on HTML5Doctor.com
- 2020-2025 – published articles on HTML Accessibility blog
- 2021 – Started desgining and selling Web Standards Leisurewear on HTMLZ Etsy store
- 2023 – left TPGi, joined TetraLogical as 4th Director/owner
- 2023 – 2025 published articles on the TetraLogical blog
- 2023 – 2025 became active again in W3C WAI working groups
- 2023 – 2025 – continued work on Screen Reader HTML support tables, developed SR HTML support Lookup web app
- 2025 – Became co-editor of the W3C Accessibility Guidelines Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) 2.0
TISM – let’s form a company
lyrics
Let's, let's form a company Let's do it now Let's form a company Let's do it immediately Let's form a company Let's do it now Let's form a company You, you say tomarto I say tomayto You say Oscar Wilde And I say Rambo You, you say art I say relevant You say rock I say intelligent Let's, let's form a company Let's do it now Let's form a company Let's do it immediately Let's form a company Let's do it now Let's form a company You, you say books I say reality You say jealous Then I say originality You, you say Sting I say humility You say Bond I say university Let's, let's form a company Let's do it now Let's form a company Let's do it immediately Let's form a company Let's do it now Let's form a company You, you say Bono I say credible You say McDonald's And I say edible You, you say religion I say pacifism You say quality I say TISM! Let's, let's form a company Let's do it now Let's form a company Let's do it immediately Let's form a company Let's do it now Let's form a company Let's do it immediately Let's form a company Let's do it now Let's form a company Let's do it immediately Let's form a company Let's do it now Let's form a company Let's do it immediately Nananana, nananana Nananana, nananana Nananana, nananana Nananana, nananana Nananana, nananana Nananana, nananana Nananana, nananana