Julie Howell honoured at Imperatives Digital Awards
- Added:
- Apr 02, 2007
On 28 March 2007, at a ceremony in London, Julie received the special award for 'Lifetime Achievement' at the Imperatives Digital Imperatives Awards 2007 http://www.netimperative.com/awards/, for her efforts to bring digital access to disabled people.
She was voted the winner by Netimperative’s 11,000 plus newsletter subscribers, who took part in an email poll.
The other finalists in the Imperative’s special Lifetime achievement category were:
Sean Phelan
Founder and Chairman of Multimap
Paul Myers
CEO and founder of Wippit
Catriona Campbell
Chairman of Foviance
Phil Jones
Managing Director of Real Time Consultancy and founder of iPodge events
Andrew Walmsley and Charlie Dobres
Co-Founders of i-level
The profiles on all the finalists can be found here.
Commenting on the award, Julie said: "I am really thrilled to win this award. Campaigning for a better deal for disabled people is my life. Disabled people stand to gain more from the internet than anyone. This is why it is so important that we continue to do all that we can to keep the issue on the business agenda.
"I am greatly honoured to win this award and absolutely delighted that the UK digital industry continues to consider the needs of disabled people a high priority".
Julie Howell joined Fortune Cookie in November 2006 following a 12-year career at RNIB where she led national campaigns to promote awareness of the importance of accessible web design and the right of disabled people to use websites.
36-year-old Howell was diagnosed with the progressive neurological condition multiple sclerosis (MS) at the age of 19. She runs a social network of people with MS in her spare time. Created in 1995, 'Jooly's Joint' (www.mswebpals.org) is also double award-winning, having received the award for 'Best Online Community' at the New Statesman New Media Awards and 'Daily Mirror Readers' Choice' at the Yell UK Web Awards in 2000.
Julie's Lifetime Achievement award recognises her effort to push the needs of the 8m disabled people in the UK up the business agenda.
Over the past decade, Julie has advised many of Britain's best known companies and organisations, including Tesco.com, Legal & General, the NHS and the BBC.
She has informed Government policy on many occasions - notably she contributed to drafts of the government's own website design guidelines. In 2006, Julie worked with the British Standards Institution (BSI) and the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) as Technical Author of new guidance for commissioning accessible websites (PAS 78)*.
This is the second time that Julie's work has been recognised. In 2005, she received the award for 'Greatest Individual Contribution to New Media' at the New Media Age Effectiveness Awards.
She has also appeared in a New Media Age list of the Top 50 Most Influential People in New
Media and in Revolution Magazine's Power 50.
Justin Cooke, Fortune Cookie's Managing Director, said: "It is testament to Julie's tenacity that she has won a lifetime achievement award at such a young age. The commitment she has demonstrated throughout her career to the importance of accessibility makes her a more than deserving winner.
"When Fortune Cookie appointed Julie I said there was no one more capable of bringing the issue of accessibility to the world's biggest brands. With a world authority on accessibility policy on board, Fortune Cookie continues to prove that gorgeous-looking, usable, accessible websites deliver return on investment."
Julie has devoted much of her spare time in 2007 to an MS Society project to improve public understanding of the sensuality of women with MS. Julie is one of three women with MS who has been painted nude by British artist Melissa Mailer-Yates for her exhibition running until 1 April 2007 at Number Nine The Gallery in Birmingham.
Featured on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on 28 March, Julie's blog 'Beauty Through Strength' www.beautythroughstrength.com describes her experience of becoming a model at the age of 36.
* Publicly Available Specification 78 (PAS 78): guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites. Available free of charge from http://www.drc-gb.org/pas.
For the full liust of winners at the Imperatives, click here. More official photos from the night will be added to the site shortyly.
