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Mike Shebanek

Mike is a 19-year veteran of Apple (1994-2013) serving in roles as a Senior Systems Engineer, Senior Product Manager and eventually product Line Manager for Apple’s Worldwide Product Marketing group, managing some of Apple’s most famous products and technologies. He is also widely known as the inventor of the VoiceOver screen reader for Mac OS and iOS

His first product was the landmark Bondi Blue “gum-drop” iMac (https://www.techspot.com/article/2953-legends-apple-imac/), and models like the iMac DV (https://retroviator.com/apple-imac-dv/) and the “swiveling lamp” iMac G4 (https://www.macworld.com/article/563365/imac-g4-design-memory-ergonomics.html). He then moved from Apple hardware to Mac OS X Software Product Marketing to manage the transition of Apple’s computers from PowerPC to Intel processors, along the way, managing notable projects such the (first) Rosetta dynamic binary translator (enabling Mac apps written for PowerPC-based Mac computer to run seamlessly on Intel-based Mac computers), Apple Software Update program, Apple’s Dashboard Widgets (the precursor to iPhone apps) and Boot Camp (enabling Windows to run natively on Intel-based Mac computers).

It was during this time Mike was introduced to the needs of blind and visually impaired computer users which led him to propose, and eventually create VoiceOver—a screen reader built into Mac OS and every new iPod, iPhone, and iPad making it possible for people to use these devices without seeing the screen. This led to a change in direction for Mike as he became the product manager and head of Accessibility at Apple for five years, developing and marketing advanced accessibility features in Mac OS and iOS to address the needs of people with a variety of disabilities. In 2010, Mike returned to Hardware Product Marketing for 3 years to serve as the product manager for iPad OS/iOS and help Apple successfully launch the original iPad and follow-on models that have helped revolutionize mobile computing.

After 19 years at Apple, Mike sought new challenges and opportunities, including a return to his work in Accessibility, serving as Senior Director of Accessibility at Yahoo! for six years (making Yahoo Mail, News, Sports, and Weather accessible, launching video captioning for live and on-demand video streaming and founding TeachAccess.org(https://www.teachaccess.org) and the Getty Disability Collection (https://www.verizon.com/about/news/these-beautiful-images-document-life-disability), and finally four years as Director and head of Accessibility at Meta, advancing the accessibility of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, and establishing accessibility initiatives on new platforms like Meta’s Oculus VR headset and Ray Ban Meta glasses.

Mike recently retired from Meta in 2024.

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