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While attending the 2023 NFB Convention Banquet in Houston Texas, Blind Abilities podcast host Simon Bonenfant had the opportunity to connect with Gilles Pepin, Chairman of the Board at Humanware. During the Banquet, Mr. Pepin received the prestigious Kenneth Jernigan award. Mr. Pepin joined Simon in the virtual studio to discuss his incredible tenure as Former CEO of Humanware for 35 years.

From the Humanware Website: “Founded in 1988, HumanWare is a Canadian-based company part of the EssilorLuxottica group since 2013. Recognized as an industry leader, our mission is to develop solutions enabling people living with visual impairment and vision loss to develop their potential and maintain their autonomy. Through the dedication of our employees and partners in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and a worldwide distribution network, we improve the quality of life for our customers by promoting literacy, inclusion, and accessibility.”

During the interview, Mr. Pepin discusses his personal story of how he came to work in the Assistive Technology field, and his dedication to the development of products that help the blind and visually impaired “See Differently.” Mr. Pepin also discusses the history and evolution of the ever-popular product lines developed by Humanware such as the braille note, Trek GPS System, Victor Reader book player, OCR, and Magnification devices.

Mr. Pepin outlines some of the challenges faced by him and his team when developing new products and innovations. He credits the dedication and passion of all the employees at Humanware for making the company what it is today. Mr. Pepin also credits the feedback of blind and visually impaired users and testers as playing a critical role in the success of the Humanware product lines as well.

To learn more about the extensive product offerings from Humanware, visit their Website

To contact Humanware, visit their Contact Page

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