IBM has appointed Frances West as the company’s first Chief Accessibility Officer.  In this new role,  Ms. West will guide IBM accessibility policies and practices. She will also lead IBM’s collaboration with business, government and academia to advance accessibility standards and policy, said the company in a statement.

Ms. West joined IBM Research as the leader of the Human Ability & Accessibility Center. She has served on the board of directors of the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Assistive Technology Industry Association and the U.S Business Leadership Network, among others. She currently sits on the board of the World Institute on Disability, is a trustee at the National Braille Press, and an advisor to the National Business & Disability Council.

[Image: Beth Butler, USBLN Chair and vice president of employment compliance for Wachovia, Frances West, worldwide director, IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center, and John Kemp, USBLN executive director and general counsel. / Courtesy: IBM]