I do not have a need “all the time” to take myself away from the oppressive facts of my life, however oppressive they may be, in order to go somewhere where I have control. I need to stay here and take control. Right now, for example, I cannot speak, but I am writing this. You lose some, you win some.
-Roger Ebert

Almost three years after losing his voice to thyroid cancer, Roger Ebert has debuted his new, electronic voice today on the Oprah Winfrey show. Many have commented that the quality and similarity to his original voice are impressive. But what’s more impressive is how he has maintained his status as one of the country’s most respected movie critics without the use of his voice. With the aid of tools like Twitter and his site on the Chicago Sun Times he’s maintained the profile and quality of writing he’s known for.

The below chart is a rough estimate of traffic to Roger Ebert’s site created by Quantcast. Note that the data being collected begins in April 0f 2007, 4 months before making his loss of speech public.

While there are some dips during health related inactivity, site traffic remains relatively high. His story is inspirational because it’s such a great reminder that the internet can not only include but cater to people traditionally left out of the conversation.