Julie Howell
BA(Hons) Library and Information
Studies (1992)
Director of public
relations at Fortune Cookie
Falling in love with Brighton, the university and her Library and Information Studies course may have been the start of Julie Howell’s ambition to be a disability rights campaigner. Fourteen years on and she’s on the shortlist for a lifetime achievement prize at the Imperatives Digital Awards.
"It’s funny, I didn’t really plan to come to Brighton. I knew I wanted to do a degree in information science, but I had planned on Birmingham, London or Newcastle. I visited all three of these polytechnics, but none of them felt right. I had to put a fourth choice on the UCCA form and I think I actually picked Brighton because I’d never been… and I fancied a day at the seaside.
I went to the open day and absolutely fell in love. I fell in love with the town, the campus – everything. And my love of Brighton has grown even stronger over the years."
Julie tells The Brighton Graduate about how her BA(Hons) Library and Information Studies probably influenced her choice of career from the start:
"The course offered great variety, different challenges and the opportunity to specialise in areas of particular interest to me. For instance, I chose Media Studies with a good friend, Louisa York (nee Richards). Together we produced a multimedia project on employing deaf people and we got 93 per cent for it. I’d say this kind of mix of media work and campaigning steered me towards my true vocation."
Disability rights
On graduating from the university in 1992, Julie was keen to move into careers counselling with the view to working with disabled job seekers. This didn't materialise and she instead took on a library position at City and Islington College in London. Her ambition stayed with her nonetheless and after a short spell at Brent Council she became a library assistant with the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB), having decided she wanted to campaign for disability rights.
Julie is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP); a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA); a Member of the British Computer Society (BCS); a member of the Usability Professionals Association (UPA), Founder Member of the NHS Care Record Development Board and a member of the NHS Voluntary Sector National Advisory group.
Before long, she progressed to assistant librarian.
"It was around this time that the web really arrived. People were getting more interested in it and more people were searching for information online. I was impressed too and decided to teach myself web design in my spare time."
By 1997, Julie had become website editor at RNIB, the largest voluntary organisation to serve the interests of the UK’s two million blind and partially sighted people. A couple of years later she achieved her goal to be a disability rights campaigner when she was appointed as Campaigns Officer (Accessible Websites). Her last post with the charity, as digital policy development manager, began in 2003.
It was in this role Julie found the combination of work she had been looking for. A mix of online development and lobbying, it focused on publicising the social and business benefits of making websites accessible for disabled people. Establishing the RNIB’s Campaign for Good Web Design would put her in contact with policy makers, information architects, manufacturers, software designers, government agencies and businesses across all kinds of sectors.
"We did a great deal with the Campaign for Good Web Design."
There were other successful campaigns too. ‘Get the message online’, for instance, which Julie authored, was about making internet shopping accessible to blind and partially sighted people.
"These kinds of campaigns worked really well as awareness tools."
RNIB campaigning was having a big influence on emerging accessibility policy in the internet industry and Julie represented the organisation on numerous new media industry award panels including the Government Forum Internet Awards, Local Government Internet Awards, Times UK Charity Awards, BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards, British Interactive Media Association Awards, Revolution Awards and New Statesman New Media Awards.
In the years to follow, she would also take on a wide range of advisory roles, from work with the Disability Rights Commission and British Standards Institution to projects for the UK government, the National Health Service, Tesco.com, BBC, British Bankers’ Association and Adobe Systems – giving guidance on strategies for making consumer-facing e-products and services accessible to disabled customers.
As if that wasn’t enough, Julie advises the UK government on web design policy, including drafts of the Cabinet Office ‘Guidelines for Government Websites’ and was a member of the Cabinet Office committee that published The Quality Framework for UK Government Website Design.
Multiple sclerosis and Jooly’s Joint
RNIB campaigning was making waves indeed. But Julie’s work with the RNIB was only one side of the story in terms of her efforts around disability.
At the age of 19 – in her first year at Brighton – Julie was diagnosed with the neurological condition, multiple sclerosis (MS), a condition affecting over 2,500,000 people worldwide. It was a highly stressful and upsetting time, she explains. But she felt huge support from peers and tutors, which got her through her degree.
"The teaching staff at Brighton were fabulous when I was diagnosed with MS. In particular, Margaret Wallis and Joy Newberry who taught media studies.
I remember one media studies session when I was really suffering the symptoms of MS. I had double vision and I felt very sorry for myself. I was due to be in front of the camera as a presenter, but I’d lost confidence because I was struggling to see which camera was the right one to speak to. Joy said to me ‘it’s the director’s job to put the right camera on you, don’t worry’. I really remember that support. And even now, I try to be as positive and accommodating as possible with the people I work with, because I remember exactly how much Joy’s words boosted my confidence."
In 1995 – two years before her very first professional web job – Julie set up Jooly’s Joint, an online community of people who live with multiple sclerosis. The site was launched to support other people, but also helped Julie understand more about her own condition.
"When MS was diagnosed, I didn’t know anything about it or anyone else who had it. It was a scary and lonely time. Most people with MS would agree that their life changed because of that diagnosis. But the condition affects everyone in different ways. While some doors may close, others will open."
In brief In 2005–2006, Julie won the New Media Age Effectiveness Award for ‘The Greatest Individual Contribution to New Media’. She appears in the ‘Revolution Power 50’, Revolution magazine’s listings of the 50 most powerful people in the digital media industry. Julie is the founder of Jooly’s Joint, a double award-winning site. In 2000, it was named ‘Best Online Community’ at the New Statesman New Media Awards and ‘Mirror Readers’ Choice’ at the Yell Web Awards UK. In 2000, Julie was profiled in Louise Proddow’s book Heroes.com: the names and faces behind the dot com era, for creating and developing Jooly’s Joint. In 2006 Julie was shortlisted for a lifetime achievement award at the Imperative Digital Awards. She is currently director of public relations at Fortune Cookie.
At the time of the site’s launch, internet technology was clunky – in Julie’s words. She was spending 35 hours a week running the site on top of her full-time job at the RNIB.
"It’s never felt like a job though. I felt, and feel, really lucky to have had the chance to do something that’s made a difference to people’s lives. Jooly’s Joint has also been incredible in helping me develop as a person and in developing my understanding of life. It is my consolation for having MS. Some people say to me that this is why you have MS, so you can do Jooly’s Joint and I think that’s certainly one way of looking at it."
Now around 11 years old, hundreds of people visit the site each day and Jooly’s Joint has attracted over 20,000 members worldwide and a clutch of industry awards including ‘Best Online Community’ at the New Statesman New Media Awards (2000) and ‘Mirror Readers’ Choice’ at the Yell UK Web Awards (2000).
Julie still works as an MS Society volunteer and actively campaigns for fair access to MS-modifying drugs on the NHS. She chaired MS Live, a national conference for younger people with the condition; and recently attended an MS Society reception at 10 Downing Street in recognition of her contribution to helping people with the condition.
Present and future
So, how’s life for Julie in 2007? Well, just two weeks before The Brighton Graduate spoke to her, Julie had finally said goodbye to the RNIB after 12 years with the charity. She tells us about yet another new challenge – as director of public relations for one of the UK’s most successful web design agencies, Fortune Cookie.
"I always loved my work at RNIB, but I felt I’d reached a natural pause. I’d just completed a very important piece of work on behalf of the Disability Rights Commission and the British Standards Institution as technical author of new guidance on commissioning accessible websites (Publicly Available Specification – 78) and had been thinking about a move from theoretical to more practical work, when this opportunity came along.
Although the new post at Fortune Cookie is an entirely new career for me, to some extent I was able to hit the ground running with the digital marketing aspects of the job. With the lesser-known bits, like the PR and marketing, I’m lucky to be able to call on help from old colleagues at RNIB."
Now 35-years-old, Julie lives in Peterborough with Betty and Lola, two 16- year-old cats adopted from Wood Green Animal Shelter. On asking her questions about her future, she allows herself to be undecided.
"At this point I’m not quite sure. I always felt that librarianship was about transferable skills and I guess my varied career is testament to that. I may decide to remain close to campaigning for disabled people. Or I may stick with PR in the digital sector… or elsewhere even.
Of course, I’m still settling into my new career. So, in terms of what the future will bring, maybe you should ask me again in a year’s time."
You can find Jooly’s Joint at www.mswebpals.org. For more information about the RNIB, visit www.rnib.org.uk and for information on Fortune Cookie visit www.fortunecookie.co.uk.
© March 2007
