SC Web Testers for 2011

Allow us to introduce our Web Testers!

Larry Armstrong

Larry with Leslie Brown

Larry Armstrong is a computer technician and tech coach for an elementary school in Spartanburg, as well as an adjunct professor at Spartanburg Community College teaching XHTML this semester. He has been working with computers since the late 1980's. He worked at the South Carolina School for Deaf and the Blind for almost a year.

Beverly Brown

Beverly Brown has been an educator for over twenty years. She has taught in special and regular education classes in New York and South Carolina. She has her master’s degree from Long Island University in educational technology. A five year stroke survivor, she is the facilitator of the Stroke Survivor Support Group at HealthSouth in Columbia and an Ambassador for Power to End Stroke. She and her military husband Christopher are the parents of two children ages 12 and 13. Beverly is very active as the Founder and President of a faith-based non-profit organization.

Leslie Brown

Leslie at a training

Leslie Brown, totally blind since birth, lives in Lando, South Carolina, and uses JAWS as her primary assistive technology. A graduate of the University of South Carolina Upstate, she was recently employed by examiner.com where she reviews Christian Music for the Charlotte area. You can find her work at http://www.examiner.com/christian-music-in-charlotte/leslie-brown. She and her niece are pursuing their shared dream of becoming published authors. Her interests involve helping others and improving her skills as a writer. She enjoys writing, learning how to use various forms of assistive technology, and educating the public about how people with disabilities interact with the world.

Read a GoUpstate article about Leslie and her assistive technology.

David W Bundy

David at an Expo exhibit

David Bundy an Assistive Technology Consultant With The SC Commission for the Blind, where he has been employed since 2001. To access web pages, he use JAWS for Windows, Talks, and about any other speech or braille output AT on the market, to one degree or another.

Robbie Clemons

Robbie Clemons lives in Florence and has a degree in Computer Science from Francis Marion University. He enjoys working on software projects and spending time with friends and family. He has an incomplete spinal cord injury with limited use of his arms. He uses sticky keys and a touch pad to help him access a computer.

Steve Cook

David Bundy with Steve Cook

Steve Cook is an Assistive Technology Specialist at the SC Commission for the Blind. He lives in Columbia with his family.

Beth Debus

Beth has been visually impaired her whole life. As a result, she primarily uses JAWS, along with windows magnifier. She's attending Ohio State University in the MA/PhD Speech Language Pathology program. Her interests include politics, news, good speeches, and, most importantly, spending time with family and friends.

Jim Debus

Jim with his wife Beth

Jim, 28, is a senior at Clemson studying Therapeutic Recreation. He is a member of the service-oriented Chi Delta Fraternity. He is also a member of Clemson Foothills Church and is learning Judo this semester. He has been playing Goalball for 15 years now, and is aspiring to be on the 2012 London Paralympic Team. He and his wife Mary Beth live in Columbus, Ohio where he will be completing his Clemson curricula by fulfilling a 480 hour internship in the spring that is related to adaptive sports.

Dennis Farro

Dennis with Wendy Mullin and Janet Jendron

Dennis Farro uses JAWS and a Powerbraille 40 braille display. He is a recent graduate of Columbia International University with a Masters in Divinity. He is seeking employment in the field of clinical counseling. He is originally from New York, where all of his family resides. Among his many and varied interests are traveling, public speaking, reading and working out.

Kristi Flynn

Kristi Flynn lives in Georgia and is a housewife and blogger. She uses Windows DPI screen resolution to access electronic information. She has an associates degree in human services and a certificate in e-marketing from Aiken Technical College. She previously worked as a special education paraprofessional in Columbia County. Her interests include blogging, concerts, television and traveling.

Kristi is very grateful of her experience with the program:

"I have taken the skills I learned as a web tester and used them to start my own Internet marketing business! I now can tell clients I have been trained and have experience in making websites accessible and friendly to those with special needs."

Kristi Flynn's site: KYFL Internet Marketing

Sam Hahn

Sam Hahn and Janet Jendron

Sam Hahn is a web designer for the SC Department of Natural Resources and a member of the SC Assistive Technology Advisory Committee, as well as its Web Accessibility Committee. A former member of SCATP, Sam has been active in planning web conferences and events for a number of years.

Denise James

Denise and husband Wil at their wedding

Denise James is from St Petersburg, FL. After 20 years with Richmond County Department of Family and Children Services in Richmond County, Georgia, she retired and relocated here for Wil’s career. She is a ZoomText 9.1 user. She and Wil have been married for five years and have two furry four-legged service dog children, Max and Titan.

William James

Wil and Denise with their dogs
Max and Titan

William (Wil) James was a technical support consultant for an adaptive software company. He uses JAWS and Window Eyes. He and Denise are married and live in Augusta, GA with their service dogs, Max and Titan.

Clay Jeffcoat

Jon Brundage with Clay Jeffcoat

Clay serves as the Access Technology Specialist in the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind's Outreach Vision Program. He provides consultation and direct instruction to students and teachers in public schools and agencies statewide. He also consults with the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind Braille Production Center located at Leath Correctional Facility in Greenwood, where he provides training and technical assistance with the sophisticated equipment used to produce Braille. He has taught Access Technology for Teachers of the Visually Impaired for the University of South Carolina Upstate. Clay is a graduate of USC with a BS in Computer Science and an MBA. He is a member of the Computer Science and Technology Committee of the National Federation of the Blind of SC, and also serves as vice chair of the Talking Book Services Advisory Council for the South Carolina State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
In his spare time, Mr. Jeffcoat enjoys antique radio restoration and spending time with his family.

David Jones

David Jones, Dragon user

David Jones lives in Hilton Head and is self-employed. Due to paralysis, he uses Dragon Dictate, a voice activated program. He has five siblings and an eleven year old son. He enjoys sports, meditation and meeting people, and appreciates his very supportive mother and surrounding community.
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/488990.html

John Knope

John Knope at the AT Expo

John Knope works for Goodwill in Greenville training clients of the SC Commission for the Blind to use JAWS and ZoomText. He is blind and has a hearing impairment. He and his wife Crystal live in Greenville. He enjoys conversation, playing the guitar, and working with computers.

David Lindsey

David Lindsey at home

David lives in upstate South Carolina and has quadraplegia. He enjoys reading and surfing the web for news. He uses different combinations of a mouthstick, trackball, the Sticky Keys feature of Windows 7, a sip/puff button and a hands-free mouse to access the web.

Will McCain

Will McCain is currently a Program Assistant at the SC Assistive Technology Program keeping the website up-to-date. Originally from Denmark, SC, he lived in Charleston for a short time before moving to Columbia. He is also a former Peace Corps Volunteer, with a stint in Senegal. He is constantly expanding his skills as a Web Developer, hoping one day to have his own company.

Wendy Mullin

Wendy with Janet Jendron

Web Developer, USC
Columbia SC

Cindy Popenhagen

Ciny Popenhagen

Cindy uses Zoomtext magnifier/screen reader. She has been legally blind since birth. She works for the Client Assistance Program in the Governor's Office as an Administrative Assistant/Advocate. She has her Associates in Science/Office Systems Technology from Midlands Technical College. She is currently attending Limestone College for her Bachelor's in Business Administration/Computer Software Application. She is married and a proud mother of a three year old son who keeps her quite busy.

Kelly Prescott

Kelly Prescott is a Unix systems/network administrator who uses JAWS screen reading software and a Braille display on his Windows 7 computer. In his spare time he pursues his amateur radio hobby, plays goal ball, sings karaoke, reads, cooks and hangs out with friends.

Josh Rose

Clay Jeffcoat with Josh

Josh Rose is the owner of Owner of Elephant Room Media, LLC. After getting a BA in Media Arts from the University of South Carolina, he started his business that designs web pages and makes commercials, event videos, and promotional videos for businesses and non-profits (including United Way of the Midlands, Palmetto Health Foundation, City Year, The SC Spinal Cord Injury Association, and the South Carolina Interagency Office for Disability and Health).

Amanda Rush

Amanda Rush lives in Greenville, North Carolina. She previously worked for Freedom Scientific as a support technician and is currently between jobs and in the process of going to college to obtain various Cisco and Microsoft certifications. Amanda is blind and uses JAWS to access the Internet. In her spare time, she likes to read and cook. She also loves technology, so much so that almost all the available surfaces in her apartment are covered with it!

Jessica Smith

Jessica Smith, JAWS user

Jessica Smith is originally from Dillon, SC. After graduating from undergraduate school in Florence, she move to Virginia, where she works as an accountant for the Department of the Army. She has been blind since the age of 16 and has been using JAWS and Open Book for over 10 years. She loves shopping and reading, and frequently visits friends and family in the Carolinas.

J. Laura Skelton

Laura Skelton.

J. Laura Skelton of Sumter, South Carolina, is the daughter of a mother/daughter rental property business team. Her Assistive Technology consist of JAWS a screen reader and Zoomtext a screen magnifier. Laura enjoys expanding her horizons in computers, herb gardening, and preserving family history. She is an active member of The National Federation of the Blind Sumter Chapter.

Grace Strother

Grace Strother.

Grace Strother is a knowledge specialist at Blackbaud, a software company that serves the nonprofit sector, where she optimizes the search capabilities of an online knowledgebase, helps manage the Customer Support section of the website. In her free time, she manages websites for two small non profits and visits nursing homes and schools with her registered pet therapy dog. She's passionate about fine tea, retired racing greyhounds, Charleston, books, and travel.Grace is legally blind and uses the ZoomText screen reader/magnifier.

Allison Yeager

Allison Yeager with her dog Forge.

Allison Yeager is originally from Columbia, SC. She now lives in Charleston and work for at Blackbaud, a computer software company that makes software products for non-profits. She works with the Knowledgebase and other online resources. Allison says, "I enjoy doing things with my wonderful Siberian Husky. He’s recently completed an agility class." Allison also enjoys learning new things and traveling.

More Pictures

Dennis Farro and Duncan	Beth Debus, David Bundy, Leslie Brown, Laura Skelton, and Bryan Smart at a Web Testers training.
John Knope and Cindy Popenhagen at a training.	Grace Strother and her husband Jon.
David Bundy and Steve Cook at a training.	Laura Skelton and Kristi Flynn at a training.
Clay Jeffcoat, Janet Jendron, Marty McKenzie, and Lee Speer at the AT Expo.

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