Fifteen years ago, Mark Nelson was presenting work he was particularly proud of at a national access technology conference. We all know that sometimes, despite the best preparation and skill, technology fails us when it matters most. This particular day, however, his planning paid off. Everything was working exactly right and his audience was spellbound.
"But there was one guy in the second row who just kept asking questions," Nelson recalls. A week later, that "guy in the second row" called Nelson to talk business, and the two have been friends and collaborators since that time.
The guy in the second row was John De Witt, a renowned leader and pioneer in the field of access technology for blind people. Friendships are forged in many ways for many reasons, but some might say that this one was set in motion to one day rescue a product line that fills a vital need among blind and low vision computer users everywhere. This is the story of how two blind guys, each recognizing the absolute power of access technology and each with keen entrepreneurial talent, conjured a business solution that is an all-round victory in the access technology marketplace.
De Witt and Associates
John De Witt's personal history in the blindness field is long and complex, beginning with his coming to the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) in 1978 where he oversaw the development and distribution of what would be called the Consumer Product division, selling useful products to people who are blind or visually impaired throughout the United States. He would wear a variety of hats at AFB, from overseeing radio information services to establishing a national technology center, but our story here begins when he formed his own company, De Witt and Associates, in 1989.
Initially, the focus of the company was to provide computer-related training to adults who were blind or visually impaired, but De Witt recognized almost immediately that if blind people were going to have any level of opportunity in the rapidly changing employment world, they needed to get up and running with technology early.
"In the state of New Jersey, we began training visually impaired children in grades K-12, as well as working-age adults and older adults in the use of technology," he explains, and the relationship between his company and New Jersey's blindness population continued in that manner for the next 22 years.
At a 2001 national conference sponsored by AFB and held in Pittsburgh, De Witt had another epiphany regarding the whole access technology scene. Yes, visually impaired people needed training to use both mainstream and specialized software. If, however, that training was going to be of lasting value, consistency was essential. If, for example, a student learned to use ZoomText with Microsoft Word as a high school student and then requested training to use Microsoft Excel a few years later, the training would have more staying power if presented in the same manner each time.
Individuals who instruct visually impaired children and adults in the use of technology represent a broad spectrum of humanity and thus a broad spectrum of teaching styles. Following that 2001 conference, John De Witt, who had long recognized that consistency in such instruction was a key element in the success of students, reflected that his company, obviously, couldn't train everyone.
Thus, in 2002, De Witt and Associates launched a new product line, a publishing venture dubbed TrainingWare.
The De Witt TrainingWare materials are clear, concise guidebooks to be used by teachers or self-schooled students in the use of specific pieces of technology. Each book comprises a set of lessons following a consistent format. Lessons are sequential, each building on the ones preceding, and the entire collection more or less follows the old teaching adage of "Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em. Then tell 'em. Then tell 'em what you told 'em."
Each TrainingWare guide includes vocabulary lists, exercises, keystrokes, and quizzes in sequential lessons that build a student's skill and confidence. In other words, all the tools needed for access technology instruction are contained in each TrainingWare guide, giving the trainer more freedom to teach and the student the security of consistent instruction.
Whether used as lesson plans for teachers or guides for students working alone, the De Witt and Associates TrainingWare publications have enjoyed tremendous success in schools and agencies in nearly every state in the United States.
Meanwhile, Mark Nelson …
While De Witt and Associates was continuing to flourish in New Jersey, Mark Nelson was in the western states of the country building an impressive set of skills. In roles ranging from access technology trainer to AT director to chief operating officer while employed by such organizations as AI Squared, the Oregon Commission for the Blind, and the Foundation for Blind Children, he crafted a composite of skills encompassing the access technology field. As a user of both low vision and blindness technology, he knew the products. More importantly, his experience ultimately included the ability to customize software, advise organizations on access tools, and manage a business. In 2011, he decided the time had come to dust off the LLC he had formed three years earlier, called My Digital Apex, and officially launch his own company.
Nelson's Phoenix, Arizona company, My Digital Apex (no connection to the popular notetaker bearing a similar name) provides consulting services and sells a wide range of access technology products. He distributes products that solve employment solutions for people who are blind or who have low vision, creates solutions where none exist and, if necessary, provides the necessary training.
Thus, in one of those beautiful examples of synchronicity that make all of us smile, Mark Nelson and his new company were exactly in the right place at the right time when his long-time friend John De Witt had an unexpected crisis.
Closing the Store
Throughout all its years doing business, De Witt and Associates welcomed the New Jersey Commission for the Blind as a major client. The company provided training to blind and visually impaired people of all ages throughout the state. Like other state agencies around the country, New Jersey's shifted to a "fee for service" model with its 2012 contracts. While the details are somewhat complex, the simple outcome of this shift in business models meant that De Witt and Associates, although awarded the contract to provide statewide training, simply could not survive under the new guidelines. On February 2, 2012, De Witt recalls, he gathered his staff of 20 individuals for a painful announcement. Under the new contract structure, De Witt and Associates simply could not continue. He met payroll that day by tapping into personal savings and, as he puts it, "I fired everyone, including myself."
Rumors of this sad end of an era circulated somewhat rapidly on the access technology grapevine. And now what, many of us then wanted to know, would happen to the popular De Witt TrainingWare materials?
Friendship, Business, and a Win-Win for All
John De Witt called his friend, Mark Nelson. Was Nelson interested in purchasing TrainingWare?
"I immediately knew I wanted to do it," Nelson recalls. "The question was how."
While the details of the transaction are not disclosed, Nelson summarizes the end result this way:
The story [of the transaction] is one about how the world can still be a kind place when two long-time friends just make something great happen.
And "make it happen" is what these two friends and collaborators have done. The complete line of TrainingWare materials is now available through My Digital Apex, and one of the primary creators of those materials is under contract with Nelson's company to continue developing new ones. Currently, TrainingWare materials are available for a range of Microsoft products when used in conjunction with leading screen-reading and screen magnification products. Future materials providing instruction for Mac and iOS devices are planned.
All is Well That Ends Well
Concluding that it was finally time to give retirement a try, John De Witt, at 80, has relocated to Arizona, There, he is near family and also just 40 miles from Mark Nelson. At present, De Witt is researching and writing a book on the De Witt family history (a history stretching from 1295-2013), but he continues to have a hand in spreading the good news of access technology.
Mark Nelson and John De Witt will be making a presentation on their shared philosophy regarding consistency of training at the CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities conference on February 27 in San Diego.
To learn more about the range of TrainingWare titles currently available and download a sample lesson, visit My Digital Apex and click on Training Materials.
