For the sixth year, I’m partnering with my friend Scott Williams, Web Accessibility Coordinator at the University of Michigan, to host a group meeting room for the online live Accessibility Summit conference.
Organized by Environments for Humans, this year’s Accessibility Summit 2015 conference returns for two full days of online sessions with accessibility experts and developers.
Thanks to the generous sponsorship from the University of Michigan Libraries, our group meeting viewing in Ann Arbor is free for anyone to attend, but pre-registration is required.
Attending the event is a great way to improve your knowledge about web accessibility, discover tools and online tutorials, learn about the challenges of accessibility in web applications, and connect with others who are working on improving web accessibility.
The event is co-hosted by University of Michigan Libraries, University of Michigan Office for Institutional Equity, and Refresh Detroit.
Here’s the tentative schedule for the conference.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
- 10:00am: Accessibility Professional Certification by Glenda Sims, Senior Accessibility Consultant at Deque
- 11:00am: Future Bliss: Make a Circuit with Me! by Elle Waters, Web Accessibility Evangelist at Simply Accessible
- Noon: Web Accessibility WAI by Sharron Rush, Executive Director of Knowbility
- 1:00pm to 2:00pm: Lunch (on your own)
- 2:00pm The Heart and Mind of Accessibility by Matt May, Accessibility Evangelist at Adobe
- 3:00pm Accessibility in an Agile World by Jesse Hausler, Accessibility Specialist at Salesforce
- 4:00pm: Accessibility and the Language of Love by Dale Cruse, author of HTML5 Multimedia Development Cookbook
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
- 10:00am: Is It Usable for People with Disabilities? by Whitney Quesenbery, User Research Expert
- 11:00am: Future Web Accessibility User Testing, UX, and Research by Jared Smith, Accessibility Trainer for WebAIM
- Noon: Apple Watch Accessibility by Paul Adam, Accessibility Evangelist at Deque
- 1:00pm to 2:00pm: Lunch (on your own)
- 2:00pm Usability in PDF and Word Form Creation by Joe Krack, Digital Accessibility Consultant
- 3:00pm Accessibility Testing Tools by Luis Garcia, Accessibility Evangelist at Deque
- 4:00pm: Demystifying WCAG 2 by David MacDonald, President of CanAdapt Solutions, Inc.
Notes
- Arrive early to claim your seat and enjoy the free continental breakfast; the morning sessions begin promptly at 10:00AM
- Free wifi is available
- Come for the full two-day event, or whatever sessions you want to attend
- While the conference is free, attendees are responsible for their own lunch (one hour lunch break). Lunch is available from several restaurants within walking distance.
- This is an online conference with viewing only at the Gallery Room at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library in Ann Arbor
- Bring your laptop/tablet, pencil and paper if you want to take notes
Has It Been Six Years Already?
Hard to believe it’s been six years since we first started hosting the group meeting room. I was working at Washtenaw Community College in the Web Services department when I heard about the Accessibility Summit from Christopher Schmitt and Ari Stiles.
I had hosted the UX Web Summit at our college earlier in the spring with our Refresh Detroit group.
When I mentioned to Scott it would be great to host a larger meeting room, he enthusiastically said yes, and off we went looking for sponsors, venues, and getting the news out to the web community.
We’ve had great turnouts and have been thankful for the various sponsors we’ve had each year. I’m glad to be a partner in spreading awareness about and helping others to learn about web accessibility.
