Biography

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Cynthia Waddell is the Executive Director and Law, Policy and Technology Subject Matter Expert for the International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet. She is the author of the first accessible web design standard for local government that let to recognition as a best practice by the federal government and contributed to the eventual passage of legislation for strenghthening Section 508. She also was the built environment and accessible technology expert for the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee that drafted the treaty on rights of persons with disabilties. She is a frequent writer and speaker and assists countries in the implementation palns for ratification of the treaty. She is co-author of two books on web accessibility and in 2006 published the first survey of countries around the world that had adopted accessible web laws or policies. Cynthia Waddell is co-creator of CynthiaSays� a web accessibility checker at cynthiasays.com. Cynthia Waddell holds a Juris Doctorate from Santa Clara University School of Law where she graduated with Honors as a Public Interest Disability Rights Scholar. She received her BA cum laude from University of Southern California. Her global speaking schedule is online at www.icdri.org.