Chieko Asakawa
浅川智惠子
Pioneer of Digital Accessibility for the Visually Impaired
Biography
Chieko Asakawa is a computer scientist and IBM Fellow who has devoted her career to making technology accessible to the visually impaired — a mission born from personal experience, as she lost her sight at age 14 due to a swimming accident. At IBM Research in Tokyo, she developed the Home Page Reader, one of the first practical voice browsers for navigating the web. She also created the aDesigner accessibility simulation tool and leads research in AI-powered navigation for blind users. In 2019, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
浅川智惠子是计算机科学家和IBM院士，她将职业生涯投入到使技术对视障人士无障碍的事业中——这一使命源于个人经历，她14岁时因游泳事故失明。在IBM东京研究院，她开发了Home Page Reader——最早的实用型网页语音浏览器之一。她还创建了aDesigner无障碍模拟工具，并领导AI辅助导航研究。2019年，她入选美国发明家名人堂。
Key Achievements
Developed IBM Home Page Reader voice browser
开发IBM Home Page Reader语音浏览器
IBM Fellow and accessibility technology pioneer
IBM院士和无障碍技术先驱
Inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame (2019)
入选美国发明家名人堂（2019年）
References & Citations
- Wikipedia: Chieko Asakawa — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chieko_Asakawa
- IBM Research profile
- TED Talk: How new technology helps blind people explore the world, 2015
