Events & Activities

Breaking Barriers: Code for Inclusion An inclusive tech hackathon celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), live from Beirut Digital District. This 48-hour challenge brought together innovators, developers, designers, and advocates to build real-world solutions that empower people with disabilities and champion digital inclusion. From AI-driven tools to accessible platforms, the top teams turned bold ideas into impact-driven prototypes — breaking barriers, one line of code at a time.

Have you ever stopped to think about what it’s like to face accessibility barriers in daily life? In this Empathy Lab, we’ll explore interactive and practical experiences that simulate the challenges faced by many people with disabilities. This activity is designed to raise awareness among non-disabled participants and is intentionally not accessible.

For many companies in Portugal, 2025 will mark the date on which the new law on accessibility applied to the private sector will come into force. Resulting from a European legislative initiative, the European Accessibility Act, this will be a challenge for products and services, with a view to creating a more inclusive reality. In Portugal, for some time now, there have been some companies that have been making very sustained progress in this area. Transforming products and services, creating new ways of working as a team and even redefining many of their internal policies. In this conversation, we will seek to highlight concrete examples of activities and initiatives from two companies that are completely essential to the lives of consumers in Portugal: Sonae MC (owner of Continente) and IKEA.

We invite you to the Poznań celebration of GAAD – World Accessibility Awareness Day.

Agenda:

From 14:00 – Neurodiversity Exhibition

17:30 – 18:00 – Joanna Pawlik & Kamila Pierunek – UAM GO Case study

18:00 – 18:30 – Networking

18:30 – 19:00 – Małgorzata Podolec – Research with blind users at Allegro

19:00 – 19:15 – Break

19:15 – 19:45 – Piotr Piątek – Digital path to accessibility and efficiency: social innovation PrehApp

Over 95% of websites aren’t fully accessible. Yet, the most common challenge is no longer lack of awareness. It’s lack of planning, capabilities, and lasting success. Audits get done. Issues get flagged. But without the right people and processes in place, progress stalls fast. Join us to explore how top enterprises make accessibility sustainable from day one—and thrive at every stage of the journey. Together, we’ll cover insights you can use to:

➡️ Avoid common pitfalls of operationalizing digital accessibility at scale
➡️ Expand and upskill teams to build in-house capabilities for the long-term
➡️ Balance internal efforts with external support for optimal results
➡️ Monitor and maintain progress as digital content and products evolve
➡️ Integrate accessibility throughout the product development lifecycle

The event is organised by AccessibleEU, with the National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a co-organiser, and will provide a comprehensive overview of the current status of the implementation of Law 232/2022, the act that transposes the European Accessibility Act into the national legislation. It is an opportunity for an open dialogue between the representatives of the regulatory bodies, the representatives of the national organisations of persons with disabilities, and the key players acting in the sectors addressed by the European Accessibility Act, to tackle the challenges and explore the possibilities that Law 232 introduces. Beyond the legal landscape, the audience will also get a firsthand look at practical resources designed to make a difference. CED Romania Association will be showcasing their recently launched Romania-accesibila.ro platform – a valuable online hub for all things accessibility. Additionally, there will be presented insightful results of a study exploring the perspectives of persons with disabilities, conducted under the ”A Family of Millions” disability-awareness national campaign by CED Romania Association and Accenture Romania, proudly endorsed by the AccessibleEU.

Join Envision’s May Community Webinar. It’s a GAAD special. We’re excited to welcome Bethany Small, Chief Program Officer at the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in California, who will share practical tips on how to access funding and training for the latest assistive technologies, including Envision Glasses, ally, and other innovative solutions. You’ll also be first to hear about the latest Envision product updates from Envision CTO Karthik Kannan —don’t miss out!

In an era where inclusivity is essential to educational success, AI offers powerful tools to help educators create more accessible, equitable, and engaging learning environments. This interactive webinar provides practical insights into harnessing AI to meet the diverse needs of all learners, with special attention to students experiencing visible and invisible disabilities—such as mobility, sensory, cognitive, and learning challenges.

Attendees will explore how AI-driven technologies can be employed to generate accessible learning content, including automated alt text for images, captions for videos, and accurate transcripts for audio resources. Additionally, the session will demonstrate how AI can support inclusive assessment practices by aiding in rubric creation, exemplar generation, and personalized feedback.

Throughout the webinar, educators and instructional designers will engage with case studies and hands-on demonstrations highlighting strategies to utilize AI effectively while mitigating biases and ensuring representation of diverse perspectives. By the conclusion of this engaging session, attendees will gain practical strategies and a curated toolkit of AI resources designed to enhance inclusivity, accessibility, and equity in their teaching practices.

Key Takeaways:

• Discover practical AI tools to enhance accessibility and inclusivity in course content
• Examine methods to leverage AI for equitable and personalized assessment practices
• Develop skills to recognize and mitigate biases in AI-driven educational content
• Access ready-to-use strategies and resources for immediate implementation

Intended Audience:

Faculty, instructional designers, accessibility specialists, and academic technologists committed to creating inclusive and accessible learning experiences