Events & Activities

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

is taking place on Wednesday 21 May at 1.00 p.m. – 2.00 p.m. at Irwin Mitchell’s Sheffield office, and via MS Teams. Please use this link to register for the event and share with your colleagues and contacts: https://events.irwinmitchell.com/globalaccessibilityday Please note that the event will not be recorded. We have some amazing speakers lined up. The focus will be how can we make pro bono legal advice and support accessible for all, as well as hearing about personal stories.

Discovery Awards, conceptualised by EnAble India in collaboration with Zero Project- is a platform that highlights grassroots innovations focused on affordability, accessibility, and ease of use solutions. While we often think of high-tech solutions, Discovery Awards recognizes practical solutions that are making a real difference in everyday lives. With participation from over 44 countries and growing, the initiative is building a global network of changemakers committed to breaking down barriers for people with disabilities.

Two-day interactive training designed to introduce AUB Mediterraneo faculty and staff to the core principles of digital accessibility and inclusive content creation. This hands-on workshop will explore how to design and deliver digital materials that are accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. Topics Covered: Foundations of digital accessibility in education and health contexts Overview of assistive technologies (screen readers, magnifiers, etc.) Creating accessible documents (Word, PowerPoint, PDF) Accessible design and universal design for learning (UDL) Making video and web content inclusive and compliant with accessibility standards (WCAG & EAA)

By organising the panel, we are joining the celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day for the third time and thus contributing to raising awareness about the obstacles faced by people with disabilities and the opportunities offered by digital technologies.

Project Discovery, an initiative by EnAble India, this annual pan-India and pan-disability movement aims to discover and highlight innovative, every day and grassroots solutions created and used by persons with disabilities to enhance their quality of life and support their livelihoods. ​ Through a video-based format, the initiative offers a platform for persons with disabilities (PwDs) to submit and share their solutions, which are then aggregated into a centralized, discoverable database. ​ This movement not only amplifies the voices and innovations of PwDs but also advocates the belief that everyone is an innovator, thereby fostering a sense of agency and positioning persons with disabilities as active, valuable contributors to society. ​ In last 5 yrs Project Discovery has significantly expanded its reach across India, encompassing 26 states and 3 Union Territories and gathering solutions from individuals with 21 disabilities (as recognized by the Indian government and beyond). It has amassed over 6,000 solution videos and gained international recognition through adoption by the Zero Project, now being replicated in 43 countries.​ Every year in and arounf GAAD Project Discovery has it’s online launch event for the respective year.

The Accessibility Club Summit 2025, taking place on May 24–25 in Würzburg, Germany, is a two-day community-driven event for developers, designers, and accessibility enthusiasts from across Europe and beyond. Organized by a network of a11y meetups, the summit features a BarCamp-style first day with spontaneous sessions and selected presentations, followed by a second day of hands-on workshops led by community members. Pre-planned talks will include human-made live captions and be streamed online, promoting inclusive participation. The event fosters knowledge exchange, networking, and collaborative learning in the field of web accessibility and inclusive design.

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.