﻿WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.597 --> 00:00:04.950
<v ->A 13 year old boy plays chess with his dad.</v>

2
00:00:04.950 --> 00:00:06.983
He touches the pieces on the board.

3
00:00:08.280 --> 00:00:09.533
Kristin Smedley.

4
00:00:10.490 --> 00:00:12.930
<v ->When the boys were diagnosed</v>

5
00:00:14.070 --> 00:00:16.010
we didn't just want to be surviving blindness,

6
00:00:16.010 --> 00:00:18.860
We wanted them to be thriving, just like any other child.

7
00:00:20.200 --> 00:00:22.870
And it wasn't until we started meeting successful

8
00:00:22.870 --> 00:00:26.460
blind people that we were able to pick ourselves up,

9
00:00:26.460 --> 00:00:28.090
understand the tools they needed,

10
00:00:28.090 --> 00:00:29.440
and then the sky was the limit

11
00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:31.094
for their potential and their dreams.

12
00:00:31.094 --> 00:00:33.709
(Narrator)The boys hit balls had a driving range.

13
00:00:33.709 --> 00:00:36.830
(Kristin) So we have always sought out blind role models.

14
00:00:36.830 --> 00:00:38.769
We got to know folks like Tom at Comcast

15
00:00:38.769 --> 00:00:42.846
that were changing what it means to be blind.

16
00:00:42.846 --> 00:00:45.340
(Narrator) Tom Wlodkowski Vice President of Accessibility.

17
00:00:45.340 --> 00:00:48.120
<v ->So I was the youngest of four brothers and we grew up</v>

18
00:00:48.120 --> 00:00:51.420
in a suburb of Hartford, Connecticut, Southern Connecticut

19
00:00:51.420 --> 00:00:54.900
and my childhood, I think was a pretty cool childhood.

20
00:00:54.900 --> 00:00:58.440
And the blindness was just a secondary thing.

21
00:00:58.440 --> 00:01:00.070
It was more of an inconvenience

22
00:01:00.070 --> 00:01:03.610
than something that everybody made a big deal about.

23
00:01:03.610 --> 00:01:05.660
If designed correctly,

24
00:01:05.660 --> 00:01:10.050
technology can be a huge leveler of the playing field.

25
00:01:10.050 --> 00:01:12.010
And along the way, we figured out that

26
00:01:12.010 --> 00:01:14.286
if you make a product more accessible

27
00:01:14.286 --> 00:01:18.170
you actually make a better product for everyone else.

28
00:01:18.170 --> 00:01:21.105
So the role of the accessibility team at Comcast is to

29
00:01:21.105 --> 00:01:24.930
open up our products to all individuals,

30
00:01:24.930 --> 00:01:26.570
including people with disabilities.

31
00:01:26.570 --> 00:01:27.863
We want to have accessibility

32
00:01:27.863 --> 00:01:30.610
not even be viewed as accessibility.

33
00:01:30.610 --> 00:01:34.140
It's just part our technology.

34
00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:36.012
It's just how it works.

35
00:01:36.012 --> 00:01:38.720
(Kristin) In our experience in our life raising the boys,

36
00:01:38.720 --> 00:01:40.170
it's about inclusion.

37
00:01:40.170 --> 00:01:42.330
We've said inclusion since they were born.

38
00:01:42.330 --> 00:01:45.760
They're included in, in schools and sports and everything

39
00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:48.526
but then in our own home, before they weren't able to be

40
00:01:48.526 --> 00:01:51.381
included in something as simple as the TV life

41
00:01:51.381 --> 00:01:55.201
and now they can explore every channel like the rest of us.

42
00:01:55.201 --> 00:01:56.670
<v ->Jurassic World.</v>

43
00:01:56.670 --> 00:01:58.510
<v ->A movie summary appears on the TV.</v>

44
00:01:58.510 --> 00:02:02.130
Jurassic world, 126 minutes,

45
00:02:02.130 --> 00:02:07.130
rated PG 13 closed captions, available, MSAP available.

46
00:02:08.334 --> 00:02:10.500
(Tom) We want to empower people through technology.

47
00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:13.690
We want to use accessibility to innovate.

48
00:02:13.690 --> 00:02:15.880
You know, if we can make a product better for someone

49
00:02:15.880 --> 00:02:19.491
with a disability imagine what that product now becomes for

50
00:02:19.491 --> 00:02:22.101
customer without a disability.

51
00:02:22.101 --> 00:02:24.008
(Host) The family watches TV together.

52
00:02:24.008 --> 00:02:26.300
(Tom) We've accomplished a lot, but we're just now

53
00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:29.950
scratching the surface and there's lots of innovation ahead.

54
00:02:29.950 --> 00:02:31.850
<v ->A peacock logo appears Comcast</v>

55
00:02:31.850 --> 00:02:35.650
NBC universal Xfinity

56
00:02:35.650 --> 00:02:38.933
special thanks to Mitchell, Michael and the Smedley family.

