Events & Activities

AccessCat aims to establish itself as a bridge between research, society, and industry. Therefore, for this year’s GAAD, the network will organise an event to present both the evolution of the network since its creation in January 2023 and the local social, cultural, and associative fabric dedicated to accessibility.

In diesem Workshop lernen Sie, wie Sie mit Hilfe moderner KI-Tools digitale Inhalte barrierefrei aufbereiten können. Dabei liegt der Schwerpunkt auf der automatisierten Transkription und Untertitelung von Audio- sowie Videomaterial, um gehörlose oder schwerhörige Personen und Nutzer*innen mit Sprachbarrieren optimal zu unterstützen. Darüber hinaus beschäftigen wir uns mit KI-basierten Verfahren zur Erstellung von Bildbeschreibungen, die Menschen mit Sehbeeinträchtigungen eine barrierefreie Navigation durch Online-Inhalte Anhand praxisnaher Beispiele zeigen wir, wie sich diese Tools in bestehende Arbeitsabläufe integrieren lassen, welche technischen Voraussetzungen erforderlich sind und wo mögliche Stolpersteine liegen. 

In this webinar, we will provide tips for teachers working with children who have additional needs, particularly visual impairments, dexterity impairments and hearing impairments. The webinar will provide an overview of the ongoing work to improve the accessibility of MakeCode. It will also explain our resources such as our sign language glossary, tactile graphic of the micro:bit, and other accessories that improve accessibility. If you work with children who have additional needs, this webinar will provide practical tips and support.

We are planning a March and Rally on May 15, 2025 from 4-6pm to coincide with Global Accessibility Awareness Day. This event will highlight the fact that our current Middle School is not ADA compliant. Abington students and parents deserve a new school that is accessible and inclusive to all. The current school is unacceptable and the time for change is now. Join us on Highland Avenue in front of the Abington School District Administration Building on Thursday May 15 at 4pm! We will begin marching at 4:15pm. There will be Join In points along our route to the Abington Township Municipal Building (at Highland & Susquehanna and at Susquehanna & Old York Rd). We will Rally at the Abington Township Municipal Building at 5pm! Family-friendly signs are encouraged! The Rally will feature local advocates and speakers. Free coloring sheets, crafts and activities available. All are welcome! Accessible spaces, seating and a sensory-friendly area will be provided.

If you work for any government worldwide and are interested in accessibility, join the 36th International Design in Government call. We will be discussing accessibility and inclusion. We will hear from 4 speakers from 3 countries about their work. Hidde de Vries supports the Dutch government in terms of web standards and has helped build the NL Design System. He will talk about built-in accessibility. Priyanca De’Souza, working for various UK government departments, will discuss ‘Considering intersectionality and lived experience when we approach accessibility’. From the German government’s DigitalService, Christoph Schmidl and Marion Couesnon will share the culture, format and tools they have developed to create accessible justice services in Germany. The call is open to anyone working in the public sector in any part of the world. You can sign up for the International Design in Government community via its website: https://international.gov-design.com/

Is your website accessible enough for the new EU Accessibility Act rules? The June 28 EAA deadline is fast approaching! Join web accessibility experts on May 15, 2025 (Global Accessibility Awareness Day) in this free Lumar webinar to learn how to audit, update, and future-proof your website for EU accessibility compliance.

Come hang out and celebrate GAAD with people passionate about accessibility and inclusive design in the Bay Area, on a friendly relaxed Thursday evening. We’ll meet at Spark Social, an outdoor food truck park designed for communities and families.

In celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on 15 May, 2025, join us for a practical, hands-on workshop “Designing for Everyone – Digital Accessibility in Action” led by Dr. Chandra Harrison, Managing Director of Access Advisors. Dr. Chandra Harrison is a seasoned user researcher, author, lecturer, and accessibility advocate based in Christchurch, NZ. She brings both deep professional expertise and lived experience with ADHD and chronic health conditions to her work—and to this workshop. This 2-hour session is designed to equip you with accessibility know-how you can apply across digital product design. Whether you’re a designer, developer, or curious creator, you’ll leave with knowledge and skills to build more inclusive experiences for everyone.

What you’ll learn:

✅ How to integrate accessibility into your design process from the start
✅ What screen readers are, how they work, and how to design for them
✅ How to use keyboard navigation in testing and interaction design
✅ How to choose accessible colour palettes?
✅ How to create clear layout structures with headings and hierarchy ✅ How to design visual elements with inclusive alternatives

👉🏽 Note: You will be going through activities, so bring a mobile phone, tablet or laptop to participate!

🦻🏽 If you have hearing needs, please let us know so that we can accommodate them.

Details:

📅 Date: Thursday, 15 May 2025

⏰ Time: 5:30 – 8:00pm

📍 Location: Potentia, near Britomart, Auckland, NZ

💸 Tickets: $60 NZD

🍽 Thank you to our venue and nibbles sponsor for networking, Potentia NZ — Share your good times with @uxauckland @haunanipao @access-advisors-nz @access_advisors_nz #UXAuckland #UXAwesome #UXAccessibility Here’s our social things – https://linktr.ee/uxauckland

On May 15th, TOTHOMweb will host an online event as part of the Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) to raise awareness about digital accessibility. The event will feature a roundtable with individuals with disabilities who will demonstrate how they navigate websites and applications, sharing the barriers they face in their daily online interactions. Daniel Montalvo (W3C) and David Sabaté (CEO of TOTHOMweb) will also explain key accessibility standards and their legal implications. The session will be moderated by Meritxell Aymerich and Iván Novegil, who will also share their perspective as blind professionals. The event will include live subtitles and sign language interpretation.

It’s time for our yearly tradition with a meetup on GAAD, (Global Accessibility Awareness Day). And we’ll be hosted again by Spotify at their headquarters at Regeringsgatan 13. It will be an evening of awesome talks, good discussions and friendly people. Don’t miss this! We will have four lightning talks (10-15 min each) and one keynote. Here are the lightning talks: Scaling accessibility for your organization Serah Kiburu – Senior Accessibility Engineer, Spotify. “Innovation and progress in the tech ecosystem are largely powered by extensive experimentation and fast prototyping. Often, this means that there is a very short and strict checklist that guides the definition of what is ready for launch, and accessibility is not always high on this list for many product teams and organizations. This talk will go over some of Spotify’s approaches to build an accessibility-centric culture across design, product, engineering and people teams, and will highlight some key lessons learnt along the way.” Innovating for Inclusive Touch – Breaking the Screen Barrier Daniel Göransson – Accessibility Clippy® at Axess Lab. “Join us for a demo of a new solution designed to make touchscreens usable for people with vision impairments. Daniel will share the thinking and development process behind the innovation, offering practical insights for anyone working to improve digital accessibility.” ChatGPT Didn’t Know About Crip Life — So I Changed That. Emma Åstrand, Crip Advocate/Disability Theorist. “A talk on how to turn a clueless AI into a crip advocate. Expect a crash course on disability identity, technical rebellion and a reminder that even Chat can learn to do better.” “Are there any good bands from Malawi?” – or: how to build an accessible musical world map. Tommy Feldt, UX designer and accessibility specialist at Useit. “Music should be universal! In this session Tommy Feldt will demonstrate how he made Explr fm – an interactive world map for exploring your music taste – accessible for users with disabilities and assistive technologies. Live demo on stage promised!” Keynote speaker (~30 min): How does tech enable me as deafblind? Torbjörn Svensson, Deafblind lecturer, adventurer and inspirer “In life with deafblindness, the digital world has brought many opportunities. Torbjörn will lecture from his perspective, as Deafblind, on digital accessibility and how it is something that everyone benefits from.”