Mike Paciello has been a pioneer and influential figure in the accessibility industry for more than four decades. He wrote the first book on web accessibility and usability, and has since achieved many notable milestones. He is the founder of TPGi and WebABLE. Mike also co-founded WebABLE.tv and Open Access Technologies.
Mike served as co-chair of the U.S. Access Board. He co-founded the International Committee for Accessible Document Design (ICADD), and was recognized by President Bill Clinton for his contribution to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). He was the recipient of the 2016 Knowbility Lifetime Achievement and the 2020 ICT Accessibility Testing Symposium Social Impact awards. Mike remains active as a public speaker, mentor and contributor in the accessibility industry.
On April 3rd, 2008, Mike and co-chair Jim Tobias, presented a historic series of internationally harmonized technical recommendations to bridge the gap between technology and people with disabilities. As a result of these recommendations, the US Access Board released a final rule that updates accessibility requirements covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 along with guidelines for telecommunications equipment subject to Section 255 of the Communications Act of 1934. These revised standards and guidelines were published in the Federal Register on January 18, 2017 and went into effect in January, 2018.
Mike was also the recipient of the 2016 Knowbility Lifetime Achievement, the 2020 ICT Accessibility Testing Symposium Social Impact awards and keynote speaker for the 2023 CSUN Assistive Technology Conference.
