March is Women’s History Month, and we’re proud to honor Dr. Margaret Rockwell Pfanstiehl (pronounced FAN-STEEL), a lifelong advocate for people who are blind or have low vision and a pioneer in the fields of accessibility and audio description.
Margaret, who was almost entirely blind due to retinitis pigmentosa, was on the leading edge of the accessibility movement. In the early 1970s, after earning her Ed.D. degree, she garnered support and funding around the Washington, D.C., area and founded the Metropolitan Washington Ear, an organization that continues to provide services today.
In the early 1980s, Margaret and her husband Cody developed The Ear's audio description program, the first ongoing description service in the world. Margaret and Cody, along with a core group of Ear volunteers (including Dr. Joel Snyder, the founder of the Audio Description Project) began offering description at Washington's Arena Stage and other area theaters.
Margaret also worked to help make television accessible; for those efforts, she was awarded a national Emmy Award in 1990.
In 1991 Margaret took another innovative leap by launching one of the nation’s first dial-In newspaper services. Years later, she testified before the Federal Communications Commission about access for individuals with disabilities, which led to the requirement for broadcasters to adopt audio description technology through the secondary audio programming channel.
This Women’s History Month, please join ACB and the Audio Description Project in remembering and honoring the incredible impact Margaret had on the everyday lives of people on the blindness spectrum. If you’re interested in learning more about Margaret’s life and achievements, visit the Metropolitan Washington Ear’s website