Dr. José Manuel Álvarez Cabán, better known as simply “Manolo”, is a blind person, but with a great vision of life. He is a true believer in social inclusion, which is why he has dedicated his life to promoting equal access to technology for all. He is a technological innovator, developer of apps, educational software and video games for blind students, podcaster, international speaker, researcher and professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Río Piedras Campus, of assistive technology and special education courses. He has offered courses in accessible technology at the graduate level as a visiting professor at the University of Massachusetts, (UMass), Boston campus. As well as digital accessibility workshops at universities in Panama, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Spain.
He was part of the team at NASA Johnson Space Center, in the development of software for learning science by blind students. He was also a member of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Office of Engineering Technology Advisory Group. He was the promoter of the creation of Law 229, which guarantees the accessibility of the web pages of the Government Agencies of Puerto Rico, and has offered technical assistance to the Puerto Rico State Elections Commission (CEE) in the implementation of the system telephone voting for blind people. He participated in the work team of the initiative that developed the first talking ATM in Puerto Rico by Banco Popular.
Academically, he holds a doctorate degree in Administration of Special Education Programs, at the Inter-American University. In addition to having a master’s degree in special education, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the State University of New York. He holds a certification in “Accessible Information Technology” from the University of Southern Maine. Also, he obtained a certification in “Assistive Technology Application”, from the California State University, Northridge (CSUN).
Manolo is a world-renowned expert related to technologies for blind people in spanish language. He has been a pioneer by publishing in 1996, his web page Manolo.Net, dedicated to technologies for blind people in spanish language. Also, since 2008, he has his podcast Tiflo Audio, which is also related to technologies for blind people and digital accessibility.
Contact Manolo
You can send an E-mail to Manolo from the following address:
manolo@manolo.net