On June 6, Xfinity, the telecommunications division of Comcast, and LightHouse held a roundtable discussion about the latest accessibility trends and their joint efforts for greater digital inclusion. The event featured a roundtable discussion with Tom Wlodkowski, VP of Accessibility at Comcast, and Sharon Giovinazzo, LightHouse CEO.
 
Since 2016, LightHouse has partnered with Comcast to promote and increase digital accessibility. To date, LightHouse has received a total of $260,000 in grants from Comcast. Two grants in 2021 and 2022, for $50,000 each, supported the purchase of iPhones and access technology training for our students.
 
Jeffery Colon, LightHouse Director of Access Technology, explained more about the tech training grants. “With the grants we’ve received from Comcast, we’ve been able to purchase iPhone SEs for our students. These are students that cannot afford to buy iPhones themselves, and for some of them it was their first experience working with a mobile device. For this grant we wanted to go the extra mile, so during training we helped students research cellphone plans and set up their phones. We also provided screen protectors and chargers.”
 
The years-long partnership with Comcast culminated in the roundtable event on June 6.
 
Sean Dougherty, LightHouse Director of Accessible User Experience, said, “Comcast reached out to LightHouse because Tom Wlodkowski was making a trip to the West Coast. They wanted to put on an accessibility event to highlight our partnership and some of the work they’re doing to make streaming more accessible and to implement different accessibility features in their products. And then they surprised us with a $20,000 donation to LightHouse.”
 
We thank Comcast for their continued generous support of LightHouse’s mission to promote equity created by and with blind and low vision people.
 
LightHouse CEO, Sharon Giovinazzo sums things up. “Inclusion is learning to meet people where we’re at. When I lost my vision at 31, I didn’t know how I was going to cross the street, never mind go to work or to college. One of the ways that LightHouse is addressing this is by filling those gaps. With the collaborations we have through our Access Technology programs, we can meet the people where they’re at. We show people, ‘Hey, I can do this! I can join the workforce!’ With our Accessible User Experience department, we collaborate with developers and other companies, and bring people to the table who are at all levels to try these products out, to test the accessibility. It’s about getting the companies [like Comcast] to understand that. Nothing about us without us.”  
 
For video exerts from Sharon and Tom’s Accessibility discussion, check out the LightHouse Instagram account.