In anticipation of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), we interviewed Tim Knight, retiring web developer at the University of Washington School of Public Health and this year’s recipient of the UW 2025 Accessibility Spotlight Award for his longtime commitment to digital accessibility. In this wide-ranging conversation, Tim shared how a passion for science, teaching, and effective communication laid the foundation for decades of accessibility-forward digital work.
I’ve heard some interesting things about you. Your accessibility story starts with gorillas?
- Yeah, gorillas and a lot of different species. I was a docent at the Woodland Park Zoo, which is essentially a volunteer teacher or tour guide. My wife and I joined when we were young, and it involved giving tours to students, donors—really anyone visiting the zoo. We had specialties in different areas and even helped track behavior of animals, including newborn gorillas. My background is in genetics and animal behavior, and over 10 years I contributed about 5,000 hours while working full-time. It was a labor of love.
- That’s incredible. And eventually, that work led you into web development?
- Yes, in a way. I already had a science background, and at the zoo I worked with veterinarians doing genetic analysis on monkeys, including creating ideograms. I used facilities at Swedish Hospital to do the lab work. Over time, my work branched into the web—sharing information, visualizing data, and making it accessible.
- I’ve heard you were one of the first at UW to get 100% of your website accessible using DubBot. How did you first come to care so deeply about accessibility?
- It started with writing image captions. People would post images without identifying them. So I started including common and scientific names and referencing photographers. It became about accuracy and giving credit. Then I started thinking about audience—mainly students. I worked on the Nature Mapping Program, creating animal species fact sheets for students at a fourth grade reading level. We translated them to Spanish with help from bilingual teachers. That work planted the seed: accessibility is about getting the message across to everyone.
- So for you, accessibility has always included readability and comprehension—breaking down jargon, tailoring content. Is that right?
- Exactly. Even before tools existed to check reading level, I made sure the content was understandable. We structured everything with headings and clear organization, even before H1s and H2s (headers) were a thing. I went to one of the first international web conferences in 1995. CSS and XML were just emerging. It was exciting to be at the forefront.
- And it sounds like you were also thinking ahead about web search and discoverability?
- Yes, early on I used UW’s WebCrawler. I experimented with keywords, observed what ranked highly, and tried to understand how people found information. Because creating content doesn’t matter if no one sees it. That ties directly into accessibility.
- You’ve also been a leader at UW in making videos accessible.
- We had 180 videos, including faculty interviews, recorded over decades; they were mostly on VHS. For our 50th anniversary, we needed to make those accessible. I used YouTube’s auto-captioning as a base, then cleaned up the transcripts, added speaker IDs, and sound cues. It made the content searchable and usable for writers and students.
- For departments working toward the 2026 Title II deadline, what advice do you have?
- Start by assessing where you are. Use analytics to find your most-visited pages—start there. Accessibility doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Break it into manageable chunks. Use proper heading structure. Build accessibility in from the beginning—it saves time later. And work collaboratively. Within our school, we have a network of developers sharing advice and solutions.
- Are there any specific tools you’d recommend?
- Yes, we use Crazy Egg to track clicks and generate heat maps. It helps us design better mobile-friendly interfaces and test what’s working. Descriptive link text is also important—never use “click here.” Our tracker helps us see exactly what users are engaging with.
- Final question: What would you like the UW community to keep in mind about accessibility?
- Think about your message and think about your audience. Think of everyone as your audience. If your grandma’s reading it, it should be legible and clear. If someone’s hard of hearing, your video needs captions. Accessibility helps everyone—non-native speakers, people using screen readers, people accessing content on phones. The more inclusive you are, the better your communication will be.
Thanks so much for meeting with me today!
Interview by Melissa Albin (UW-IT Communications) for Global Accessibility Awareness Day