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Neal Williams charts out a way to help computer users who are blind

By John M. Williams
iCan contributor
December 14, 2001
Name: Neal Williams
Age: 37
Residence: Lindon, Utah

Family: Married to the former Dominque Harper for 11 years. Their three children are Taggart, 9; daughter McKenzie, 7; and Colin, 4. Williams attends many of his children's school and recreational activities.

Hobbies: Even though he's from a small town, his dreams spanned the galaxy he looks at through his telescope. "Astronomy is an avocation of mine," says Williams, whose hobbies also include photography and building and flying remote control planes. He enjoys barbecuing. Believing the mind and body works better when they are in harmony, he keeps himself physically fit by playing racquetball. Two of his favorite pastimes are hiking and snow skiing with his wife.

Disability: Legally blind in his left eye since he was 14 years old. On his blindness, he says, "I do not believe it impairs any of my life functions in any significant way and it doesn't make me the equivalent of someone who has a serious visual impairment."

Inclusiveness: Inclusiveness is important to him. He says, "I want to provide technology to assist blind and visually impaired people develop their talents to the fullest for educational, recreational and professional purposes."

Employment: He is the founder, president and CEO of CORDA in Linton, Utah. Started five years ago, CORDA is a software development company whose PopChart Xpress allows blind individuals to develop charts and graphs for Web usage. PopChart Xpress was introduced six months ago. Using a screen reader, the charts and graphs can be read so blind users know where they are all the time, providing them with immediate access to the same information a sighted user has. PopChart Xpress has been on the market about six months.

Motivational quote: "Some men see things as they are and say 'Why?' I dream things that never were and say 'Why not?' " -- Robert F. Kennedy.

Life's philosophy: He loves laughing and comedy. While he takes his work seriously, he does not take himself seriously.

Role models with disabilities: He points to the musical contributions of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Dianne Schuur and Andrea Bocelli. "Look what they've done to create jobs and expand the economy of the world," he says. He mentions the great contributions that John Milton made to the literary world when he was blind. He asks, "Who is Arnold Fast?" and answers: "A blind mathematician who in 1941 was hired to program the z-3." The Z-3 was the world's first operational program.

The beginning

Neal Williams is a native of Taylor, Ariz. Coming from a small town, Williams exudes a rugged individualism. He is confident, deliberate, thoughtful of others but still protective of his personal privacy, and doggedly determined to be a successful entrepreneur. "CORDA is successful because we created something new for the market," says Williams. The something new is PopChart Xpress, a program that generates web-ready interactive charts and graphs from spreadsheet data in a short time.

CORDA stands for Component, Research and Development. "CORDA was a cool sounding name not used on the Internet," Williams says.

In developing PopChart Xpress, Williams wanted as many people to use it as possible. So CORDA provided a descriptive text feature for people with vision challenges. "An added feature for PopChart XPress is it has accessible charts with descriptive text for legally blind people using screen readers," Williams adds.

Blind community responds to PopChart Express

Individuals in the blind community appreciate CORDA's efforts to make PopChart Xpress accessible.

"Using the template in PopChart Xpress, I independently created five charts with my own text in about three hours for a PowerPoint presentation," says Leonard Tigue, 44, a blind engineer from Alexandria, Va. Creating the charts was a first for Smith, who has needed help in developing charts and graphs since losing his vision 12 years ago to diabetes. A former Toyota owner, he recalls that company's slogan when he describes his joy at expanding his independence because of the program. "Oh! What a feeling!"

Tigue believes with more practice he will create future charts and graphs in less time. And he is not alone in his successes with PopChart Xpress.

Cheryl Mason, 28, of Richmond, Va., who is legally blind, says": "It took me a while to adjust my sights but when I did, I developed two charts for a school project using PopChart Xpress. I wish other programs for blind people were as easy to use." Alternating the color background for the charts and using the magnification function on her computer, Mason isolated sections of her graphs for viewing, altered them, added her own text and then had her screen reader read over each section of her chart.

"It was worth the time to learn PopChart Xpress. I feel better about what I can do, and I have added to my marketing skills," says Mason, administrative assistant for a heath care provider.

For Tigue and Mason, the cost of the program influences peoples' access to it. They were pleased to hear the price had been just reduced.

"The old price of $795 was cost prohibitive for individuals," says Mason.

Ever the businessman

Last month, Williams reduced the price of PopChart Xpress from $795 to $295. "I want PopChart Xpress to be available to everyone," Williams says. He knows that most blind people of working age are either not employed or underemployed.

Besides his own experience in dealing with blindness, Williams knows people who are blind or visually impaired. He has seen them struggle in front of computers when trying to understand graphs or charts. He has heard negative remarks about the inabilities of blind or visually impaired people to compete in the marketplace with sighted workers. And so he was motivated one day to develop programs that make creating graphs and charts easy to use for visually impaired people.

"As a businessman, I want as many people to buy my products as possible. As a businessman I want to harness the intellectual abilities of blind and visually-impaired people to produce products that everyone can use," Williams says.

Williams knows there is a 70 percent unemployment rate among people who are blind or have low vision, and prefers to see people with disabilities working. "We find diverse talent in everyone," he says. "That's what makes this country strong and great. We have to harness this talent."

Aware his program needs input from blind and low-vision users, Williams says CORDA is working with this group to develop the company's next version of PopChart Xpress. While he will not specify exactly when it will be ready for the market, he promises it will be "soon." He adds, "As we continue to increase our markets in the accessibility area, I shall utilize input from blind individuals."

Williams has contacted offices of vocational rehabilitation for the blind and organizations of blind or low vision individuals in Utah to develop training programs on PopChart Xpress. He is eagerly waiting for their response.

Still Williams, whose love affair with computers started during his senior year at Snowflake High School in Snowflake, Ariz., in 1982 when he learned basic programming, balances his responsibilities as a husband and father with those of an CEO of an expanding company.

"The company is also my family. I have more than 20 employees whose lives depend on my decisions," Williams adds. He wants the company to grow quickly, but in a manageable way.

Williams' responsibilities have changed since CORDA started in November 1995 with three employees. Then, he spent 60 hours a week developing programs. As CEO, he spends about five to 10 hours weekly on developing software; the rest of his time is spent in meetings, traveling, developing and implementing expansion plans and making decisions. He likes making decisions.

Peer recognition

His peers have recognized Williams' achievements as a business leader. Last year, CORDA was selected as one of the top 25 companies in Utah with less than five years of experience by the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum, a non-profit organization committed to establishing a resource for dedicated entrepreneurs. The committee looked at revenue growth, number of employees hired and contributions to the community.

Williams's friends praise him for the commitment and leadership he shows toward his business. Despite the fact that investors have offered him a lot of money for his company, he wants to continue to grow the company and build his dream.

"He should have control of the company because it is his company and he has worked hard to create it. I am impressed that he has not been seduced by easy money but instead continues to work at growing the company organically," says Scott Sorenson. He has known Williams for about 10 years as a co-worker and friend. They worked on the same team at WordPerfect, and later at Novell he was Williams's manager.

The future

Williams believes the future holds more job opportunities for people who are blind. He says, "It takes a while for people to recognize the abilities of people with disabilities, but eventually they do," Williams says. "Each year I see more people with disabilities employed and contributing to their communities. It's the ability and value of individuals we must recognize.