John Williams has been a professional writer for 35 years. He has been writing about disability issues since 1978 and is a former award winning weekly columnist for Business Week Online Magazine.

One of the founders of AT508.COM, he also writes a weekly column for the National Organization on Disability called Closing the Gap. Its url is NOD.ORG.

In 1982, Mr. Williams coined the phrase “Assistive Technology.” Since then it has become a universal word in describing products benefiting people with disabilities.

John Williams
Professional Writer about Disability Issues

He is also the founder and former publisher of Assistive Technology News, a tabloid newspaper covering Assistive technology issues.

For 24 years, Williams has been writing on assistive technology's benefits to people with disabilities. He has written about hundreds of products used by people with disabilities. He is credited with raising the awareness of disability issues, especially the benefits of assistive technology, to a national level.

Since he started writing a column four years ago, he has interviewed President George Bush, former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, former first lady Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno, Clint Eastwood, Governor Jesse Ventura, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Senator Max Cleland, Congressman Jim Langevin, Vinton Cerf (one of the founding fathers of the Internet), Country Western singer Mel Tillis, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer, and other noted people in the disability arena.

Mr. Williams' column has won the Easter Seals Equality, Dignity and Integrity Award, Stuttering Foundation of America's 2000 Journalism Award, California Media Access Award. It was a contributing factor for Business Week Online receiving the New Media Excellence Award, for Easter Seals giving Business Week its leadership corporate award in 1999, for McGraw Hill Publishing Company receiving the American Foundation for the Blind's Lifetime Achievement Award for 20 years of writing about products benefiting blind people, and in November 2000 he received the Charles Van Riper Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in writing about stuttering and his leadership in this promoting opportunities for people with speech impediments.

Mr. Williams has been an environmental writer and has covered NASA, the Congress, Pentagon and the Supreme Court. He has edited two books on the environment, one on poetry and a NASA publication on A History of Sunspots.

He has had more than 2000 articles published and has written five books. His 1976 Merit Badge Book for the Boy Scouts of America on Space Exploration is the largest single selling Merit Badge book in the history of the Boy Scouts. His co-authored book with Dr. Frank G. Bowe, “Planning Effective Advocacy Programs,” sold more than 35,000 copies and he wrote and designed the first national Communications Resource Handbook for United Way of America in 1976. UWA sold more than 20,000 copies to its member agencies. He is also one of the original writers of United Way/National Football Spots seen every during NFL games.

Mr. Williams is married and he and his wife have two children. He reads French, Latin and historical biographies. He graduated from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and minors in mathematics and history. He loves camping, hiking, fishing and attending baseball games.