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Meet the Smart Hal Team

Photo of Dave Williams inside the screen of a Smartphone.

Dave Williams, Smart Hal Product Manager

Once described as eccentric during the smart hal Tour this label has now stuck and "Eccentric Dave" featured in many papers and articles in the US, much to the amusement of the Dolphin Marketing Department who coined this nickname. Dave has many years of blindness product evaluation & testing under this belt, as is probably best known for his years on ACB Radio.

Dave's Favourite Smartphone:

I like the Qtek 8300 because it has an audio jack as well as mini USB which means I can listen to audio books with my headphones at the same time as charging the battery. It's also perfect when I'm presenting as I can display the sound and video coming from the phone.

Photo of Mike Hill inside the screen of a Smartphone.

Mike Hill, Development Director

Mike has been the cornerstone of Dolphin’s development department since the early days of Hal for DOS and leads the way in developing at the forefront of access technology innovation. Mike has built a close working relationship with the Microsoft team at Redmond and is well known by their accessibility team for his frank and honest feedback! Need we say more?

Photo of Malcolm Ross inside the screen of a Smartphone.

Malcolm Ross, Development Engineer

Malcolm is also part of the Dolphin furniture and has been developing Hal products since the early days of the Apollo 1. Windows operating systems, talking PDAs and much more has changed since these early days, but Malcolm’s natural flair for intuitive and accessible programming makes him crucial in the coding of Smart Hal.

Photo of Ian Wild inside the screen of a Smartphone.

Ian Wild, Development Engineer

Ian’s development capabilities are probably best described by the contents of his desk. Not many can boast 3 PCs, 5 monitors, a random selection of PDAs and most importantly hundreds of Smartphones. Unsurprisingly to most Ian is fondly known as ‘Wild man’ both for the state of his desk and not forgetting his hair!

Ian's Favourite Smartphone:

My favourite by far is the i-mate SP5m. It has stood up very well to being dropped on the floor a number of times, has survived many games of Bubble Breaker played by my four year old son, and doesn't look to ostentatious when you are out and about.

Photo of Spencer Ellis inside the screen of a Smartphone

Spencer Ellis, Adaptive Technician, (AKA The Mapping Master)

Spencer is the king of Dolphin’s map creation and makes those small but essential tweaks to the way Smart Hal reads all your favourite Windows mobile 5 applications. Spencer is frequently found stuck between the development staff and Dave Williams. We don’t envy him his job!

Spencer's Favourite Smartphone:

I like the HTC MTeoR, it has a very quick processor, is not too bulky and the buttons are easy to use as they are not too clustered together.

Photo of Mike Fawson inside the screen of a Smartphone

Mike Fawson, Technical Support Manager

Despite cycling over 100 miles a week to get to work and back, Mike’s sharp eye and excellent juggling skills (literally) enable him to carefully balance the egos and temperaments that co-exist in Support and Development.

Mike's Favourite Smartphone:

My favourite Smartphone is HTC StrTrk. It's black, robust, and the neat clam shell design fits in small pockets. It also survived an accidental swim in a glass of champagne!

Photo of Neill McBride inside the screen of a Smartphone.

Neill McBride, Technical Author

Neill is probably the name that the majority of blog readers are familiar with, after serving his time on the helpdesk and dealer support line for many years. Neill has superb writing skills when it comes to useful support materials such as tutorials and user guides, not a skill that every access technology company can claim to have.

Neill's Favourite Smartphone:

I would opt for the HTC MTeoR, it has survived my rigorous testing and the buttons are easy to distinguish making it quick and easy to get to grips with the layout.