Lifetime Achievement Award
Nominations
Nominations open on the day following each Annual General Meeting and close on the 31st of December each year. Any Round Table Member Organisation, Round Table Executive Committee Member, Round Table Sub-Committee or Round Table Working Party can nominate.
- Overview: Lifetime Achievement Award (doc 35 kb)
- Award process: Lifetime Achievement Award (doc 50 kb)
- FAQs: Lifetime Achievement Award (doc 45 kb)
- Nomination form: Lifetime Achievement Award (doc 40 kb)
- Nomination tips: Lifetime Achievement Award (doc 45 kb)
- How recipients are chosen: Lifetime Achievement Award (doc 45 kb)
- Flickr photos of awards presentations
Background
For some time it had been a matter of discussion that Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities (Round Table) should institute a Life Membership category for people who had made an outstanding contribution to the Print Disability sector.
As the Executive pondered the matter it became apparent that it was not appropriate to create a Life Membership category for individuals as Round Table does not have any membership categories for individuals. Round Table is an organisation of organisations. However, the concept of public recognition for outstanding service was both appealing and long overdue. This was the genesis of the Round Table Lifetime Achievement Award.
Finally, at the 2009 Annual Conference Dinner in Sydney, two inaugural Round Table Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented. It was a particularly momentous night as it was also the occasion for a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille.
Round Table Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are presented with a memento in the form of a twin plaque. Each memento comprises two separate rosewood timber circular plaques, 24 cm in diameter. The plaques are connected by a metal hinge allowing, if preferred, the two plaques to stand upright when rested at an angle. Alternatively, they can be displayed by being hung on a wall. On the front of each plaque is a silver metal plate on which the Round Table logo and the following words are written: "Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities, Lifetime Achievement Award, ‘the person's full name’, and ‘the year in which it was awarded’. Why two attached plaques? Because on one plaque the words are in print and on the other they are in braille.
It is intended that the Round Table Lifetime Achievement Award will be regarded as a prestigious award, conferred on only a few. The names and a short biography of each of the Round Table Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are listed below.
2009 Inaugural Awards
Bruce Maguire
Bruce Maguire has been a leader in the field of print disability for approximately 25 years. He was one of the early members of Round Table holding a number of positions on the Executive including President in 1995. Bruce's lasting footprint, however, has been cast in the development of Braille codes. This commenced in the mid 1980s with the recognition by the ABA for Australia's need to upgrade its technical braille codes. Bruce played a leadership role working as an active member of the Mathematics, Science, Computer Science Committee of the Australian Braille Authority to produce the Australian Braille Mathematics Notation, 1987 and subsequent technical documents.
Bruce's reputation as a highly intelligent and committed individual has also transferred to the international arena where he has been actively involved. He is held in high regard by all member countries of the International Council on English Braille (ICEB) and has played a leading role in ensuring that Australia's voice has been heard in the development of Unified English Braille (UEB) since approximately 1992. Bruce has had the passion and commitment in ensuring that braille remains a lasting legacy for people who are blind. Through his untiring efforts he has had the vision to look to the future for young braille readers in particular, to ensure that braille remains the cornerstone of literacy for blind children. Bruce has recognised the harmony required between braille and technology and has advocated for the importance of both mediums: that they are not in conflict but are a compatible marriage of the two. He has always been available to assist any person requiring advice on braille or access provisions sometimes at great personal cost and for many years without the support of a major organisation.
As we in 2009 reflect on what Louis Braille gave to the world with the use of braille, at a more local level, we also in contemporary Australia could look to what Bruce Maguire has given to the youth of today and the generation of braille readers to come through his passion, his absolute dedication and commitment to ensuring people who have a vision impairment have equitable access to information both now and in the future.
Mary Schnackenberg
Mary worked for the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind for over 35 years. In that time, she managed the library, talking book studios and transcription services, introduced adaptive technology services, and managed other teams including volunteer services and equipment services. With the Foundation's I.T. manager, she developed the award-winning Telephone Information Service, and introduced an automated library system which significantly increased the library's service performance. More recently, Mary managed the world-leading digital talking book pilot which delivered DAISY books over the internet, to a player specially designed for older borrowers with no computer experience. She has been a staunch advocate of global cooperation between libraries for blind people, and a supporter of international networks including Round Table. Through travel and strong international networking, she has kept New Zealand on the map and been a strong Australasian voice. She has been a mentor to agencies embarking on service innovation.
Mary has served on the board of the DAISY Consortium, was instrumental in setting up the Australia and New Zealand Accessible Information Group (ANZAIG), and was an early enthusiast of structured audio and the DAISY format.
Mary is the current president of the International Council on English Braille, and has provided ongoing service and guidance to the Braille Authority of New Zealand. She is a past President of the Association of Blind Citizens of New Zealand. She was one of the initiators of New Zealand's innovative copyright provision to facilitate accessible format production, section 69 of the Copyright Act 1994, which became the basis for legislation in other countries. She has made a significant and lasting contribution to the accessibility of public transport through advocacy, submissions and ongoing involvement with the Auckland Regional Transport Authority. Her involvement encouraged transport providers and legislators to think about the information aspects of accessible travel.
Mary has been a passionate advocate for information access issues in formats popularly used by blind people including telecommunications, radio, music and the internet. She was a member of the Telecom Special Needs Advisory Panel between 1994 and 1997. She was part of a team that piloted a radio reading service for people with print disabilities in 1986. Mary's contribution to the community is well recognised. In 2007, Mary was appointed as a Companion to the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to the vision-impaired community. She was appointed a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International in 2001, and received a Distinguished Alumni Award from University of Auckland in 1996.
2010 Award
John Simpson
The recipient of the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award of Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities was John Simpson.
John has for over 30 years been instrumental in the development of accessible information, through the work he has done with Blind Citizens Australia (BCA), research into Audio Description, the development of standards and much other work in the area of the provision of information in alternative formats.
John began his involvement with Round Table in 1986 while he was Executive Officer of BCA. He contributed to the work of Round Table's various subcommittees, including the Audio Standards Subcommittee and the Copyright Subcommittee. He has always commented perceptively and articulately on the major issues that Round Table has dealt with, including the definition of Print Disability that was formulated after the Summit on Print Disability Services held in Sydney in 1995. John was also appointed to a working party that was set up at the Summit to develop strategies for making progress on resolving long-standing issues related to copyright and print disability. John advocated strongly for the provision of government information in accessible formats – a service which is now received as a matter of course by people with a print disability.
John has championed the cause of providing audio access to information for people with print disabilities in Australia for many years. In addition to his work with Radio for the Print Handicapped, he has undertaken significant work to "turn print into sound" through, with his wife Christine, the establishment of Information Alternatives. This has provided vital information of general and specific interest to people with print disabilities, such as census information, and BCA News – a quarterly publication produced by BCA – in audio format.
John has authored or contributed to many reports and discussion papers. In the early 1990s he helped develop a paper outlining the benefits of merging the library services of Royal Blind Society of NSW and Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind. This was a step along the path towards the merger in 2004 that led to the establishment of Vision Australia.
John authored an important study of the disadvantaging effects on people who are blind of not having access to visual content on television. This study was published in November 1999, and is titled "When a word is worth a thousand pictures: improved television access for blind viewers in the digital era". It makes compelling reading, and is a landmark on the journey towards greater access to culture and entertainment. John played a key role in organising the 4th General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille that was held in Melbourne in April 2008. The event was an outstanding success and, somewhat akin to the Sydney Olympic Games, is regarded by many as the best General Assembly ever. John deserves much of the credit for this success.
John's contribution to the print disability sector is both outstanding and diverse. He has been a remarkable, passionate and unrelenting campaigner for the need and right of people with print disabilities to have not only printed material available in accessible formats but also for television, cinema, live theatre, video and DVD content to be provided on equitable terms with sighted people.
John Simpson is a most deserved recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.