We are excited to announce the judges for the first round of The Next Big Thing contest, where you can help shape the future of JAWS and ZoomText. Submit a three-minute video outlining your feature ideas by October 16 to make your voice heard. Visit the Next Big Thing page for all the details.
Meet the Judges
Roxana Fischer
Roxana is a Product Manager for ZoomText, JAWS, and Fusion at Vispero. With industry experience spanning a decade, she has spent the last five years at Vispero in various roles, including Software Developer and UX Research Analyst.
When coming up with ideas for the Next Big Thing, Roxana encourages everyone to start with curiosity. “Explore a challenge you’ve encountered, dive deep, and question the status quo. Then, draw inspiration from the world around you or your imagination to propose an idea that can address this challenge.”
She says understanding the problem is only the first step “Creativity is what leads you to a solution that didn’t exist before.”
Sriram Ramanathan
Sriram is the Director of Software Engineering at Vispero. His interests lie in accessibility, large-scale programming, operating systems, and networking. He also loves learning anything related to programming and computers.
“I find joy in creating useful and usable software and solutions that empower people with visual impairments.”
Isabel Holdsworth
Isabel is an Assistive Technology Engineer and JAWS Scripter at The Paciello Group Interactive (TPGi). Blind since birth, she loves any kind of technology that can make her and others’ lives easier and more fun. She shares, “I’ve been using JAWS since the early days of Windows and couldn’t have pursued my digital development and testing career without it.”
Isabel became interested in computer programming because there were very few accessible games for her daughter, who is also blind. “I can hardly wait for the next big thing!”
Mohammed Laachir
Mohammed is a Product Owner at Vispero. He joined our company four years ago as a Software Engineer.
Having first been low vision and now blind, he understands what many customers deal with in their daily lives. “I regard it as one of the most important parts of my job to help our teams get to the best possible solution that works for all segments of our customer base. My experiences are a great help.”
Hear from the judges themselves and learn how ideas become software features in this video.
The Next Big Thing contest is part of Sharkvember, a month-long celebration of accessibility, creativity, and community. Visit the Sharkvember page for a list of events that will take place during the entire month of November.
Have questions, send them to NextBigThing@vispero.com.