Tribute to Dan Jellinek

I was shocked to learn late last week that my friend and colleague, Dan Jellinek has died. He passed away suddenly on the 17th or 18th October 2015, and it pains me that I only found out now. Here are more details and tributes from the time. Dan was only 47, and is survived by his wife and two children.

I first came across Dan in 2003, when I emailed him to point out some places where the archive web site for the E-Access Bulletin could be improved for those with disabilities. Dan was the editor and founder of the E-Access Bulletin, an important email newsletter about technology for the disability community. Dan replied with a kind email, thanking me for the ideas, and asking if I could help to re-develop the site.

Our relationship progressed from there, with collaborations on accessibility testing and reports for government and public sector web-sites (Teachernet, Dumfries and Galloway, et al), 12 more years of the E-Access Bulletin, and my attendance at the E-Access Conference which Dan co-organized.

I owe a debt to Dan, for helping to develop my interest in and knowledge of Web accessibility.

Throughout the time I’ve known Dan, I’ve been impressed with his passion and drive, his breadth of interest and knowledge (he wrote the book People Power…), and his generosity of spirit.

I’ll miss Dan, and I know the wider disability, e-democracy and e-government communities will too. I’m delighted that after a brief hiatus, there plans are afoot to revitalize the E-Access Bulletin.

Here’s to another 15 years of the E-Access Bulletin.

In memory of Dan … Dan Jellinek 1968 — 2015.