Christian Vogler and Greg Hlibok honored for achievements in accessibility

On July 24, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) presented four access champions with Chairman’s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility. The honorees included Gallaudet faculty member Dr. Christian Vogler and Board of Trustees member Greg Hlibok, ’90.

The Chairman’s awards are presented to “individuals who have made lasting and impactful contributions to the advancement of accessible communications technologies and services in the fields of policy, advocacy, research, and design.”

Accessibility in Tech

The FCC calls Dr. Christian Vogler “a visionary leader in advancing accessible telecommunications and media technologies for the deaf and hard of hearing community. His research, policy engagement, and collaboration with industry have directly contributed to improvements in captioning quality, IP-based relay services, accessible emergency communications, and more.”

In recent years, Dr. Vogler has been noted as an expert in accessible captions and AI. This past June, he was named to the first-ever Forbes Accessibility 100. 

Dr. Vogler is Director of the Technology Access Program (TAP) at Gallaudet, which researches communication technologies and services. The TAP team made major contributions to the Google Live Transcribe app, which has helped people around the world communicate.

He is also the Co-Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (RERC). The RERC researches developing technologies such as AI, ensuring that advancements are accessible for deaf and hard of hearing people.

Dr. Vogler also serves as the Co-Director of the Accessible Human-Centered Computing (AHCC) master’s degree track in Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health (STAMP). It has become one of Gallaudet’s most popular and productive degree programs since forming in 2022.

Activism and Advocacy

Greg Hlibok is well-known at Gallaudet for being one of the DPN4 student activists during the Deaf President Now movement in 1989. The DPN4 were recently featured in Deaf President Now!, an Emmy-nominated documentary film by Gallaudet alum Nyle DiMarco, ’13, which is available now on Apple TV+.

Hlibok has continued to advocate for the rights of deaf and hard of hearing people over the years. He worked at the FCC for 15 years. After starting as an attorney, he became the first deaf person to head the Disability Rights Office. The FCC notes that he “played a key role in Video Relay Service reform at a period of rapid technological change, and led the FCC’s efforts to implement the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010”.

Today, Hlibok serves as the Chief Legal Officer at ZP Better Together. He is a long-time board member at Lexington School and Center for the Deaf. He has also been a member of the Gallaudet Board of Trustees since 2016, bringing his legacy of activism at Gallaudet full circle.

A Community Effort

All of this year’s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility were given to advocates in the deaf and hard of hearing community. Dr. Vogler and Hlibok were joined by Victoria Bond, founder of the Emergency Response Interpreter Credentialing Program, and Nikolas Kelly, co-founder of Sign-Speak, Inc.

Congratulations to all the honorees! Thank you for continuing to champion accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing community.