Partisanship Put Aside to Give Internet Access to Blind
Published: Jun 20, 2007It’s not unusual for someone in business to ask a member of Congress for help. But when Craig Columbus got together with Rep. J.D. Hayworth to give a boost to an Arizona start-up, the partnership was also a happy contradiction of our era’s nasty partisanship.
Columbus, you may recall, challenged Hayworth for his seat in 2002. That didn’t matter as Hayworth was happy to be an early adopter of Web streaming technology that gives blind computer users access to the Internet. Hayworth will use the prototype technology on his congressional Web site.
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The company behind the software is AudioEye, which was started in 2002 by University of Arizona grads Nathan Bradley and David Ide. Columbus, who now manages a hedge fund as vice chairman of Greenbook Financial Services, provided seed capital and guidance to the start-up. AudioEye will let the blind or people with poor vision bypass buying costly hardware or software. It’s free to users when the Web site buys a license.
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