Tom Wlodkowski
Thomas J. Wlodkowski is Vice President of Accessibility at Comcast. In this role, Tom is responsible for driving the design and development of inclusive experiences through product innovation and superior customer support. His vision to empower and delight people of all abilities with world-class entertainment, communications, and smart home experiences has brought Comcast to the forefront of the accessibility space.
Throughout his career, Tom has been a pioneer in the accessibility field. Blind himself, he has served as a champion for people with disabilities, working to improve usability of mainstream Internet, mobile, broadcast and cable television technology.
Under Tom’s leadership, Comcast launched Voice Guidance on Xfinity X1, the industry’s first talking guide that provides people who are blind or visually impaired with independent access to the X1 set-top box user interface including: TV listings, the ability to manage their DVR, access to Xfinity On Demand , and adjust settings. Since it launched, Voice Guidance has earned Comcast several awards including the 2015 FCC Chairman’s Award for Advancements in Accessibility. The groundbreaking feature also sparked the award-winning Emily’s Oz marketing campaign for Xfinity.
Tom and his team also opened a dedicated support center for customers with disabilities and created an accessibility lab to drive accessibility research and development. The lab provides an interactive atmosphere where employees can experience the accessibility features of Comcast’s current and future products and assistive technologies used by people with disabilities.
At Comcast, he also serves as co-executive sponsor of MyAbilities, an employee interest group for people with disabilities and their allies created as a component of the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Prior to joining Comcast, Tom served as the Director of Accessibility at AOL for over 10 years and also held positions at the WGBH Media Access Group, home to the Descriptive Video Service, Caption Center and the National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM).
While at NCAM, he helped develop audio menus for DVD’s and guidelines to improve the accessibility of educational multimedia software.
A graduate of Boston College, Tom currently sits on the boards of Trustees for the American Foundation for the Blind, Associated Services for the Blind in Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Chapter for Adaptive Sports. He also represents Comcast on the FCC’s Disability Advisory Committee, serving most recently as co-chair of the Video Programming Subcommittee.