People-first

Keely Cat-Wells (she/her) & Dan Edge (he/him)

Together we’ll discuss disability representation within the entertainment, media & advertising industries and how that affects our society. They will discuss the social model of disability, intersectionality and encourage turning any doubts into questions.

Read more about Representation Creates Reality →

Von R. Eaton (he/him)

We use the term "community" often, but what is the broader implication and importance of this word? In sociology, a community is a group who follows a social structure within a society, bound by a sense of belonging sustained across time and space. The often unspoken element of community is power dynamics: both individual and collective. This session will engage attendees on the key components of creating and sustaining healthy communities.

Read more about How to create and maintain healthy communities: The importance of psychological safety →

Aaron Esau (he/him)

This is a crash course in how to help you as a disabled person (or anyone) to improve accessibility. We will discuss figuring out what the problem is, sift through possible solutions and how to test and iterate to a working solution for the user.

Read more about How to make / improvise your own accessibility and adaptive devices and mods. Crash Course. →

Nikki Flores (she/her)

Those of us who work in technology know how to work with multifaceted and diverse teams to solve complex issues for our end users. Becoming stronger, more empathetic communicators who foster diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across the organization is a continuous goal and many would say we are all a work-in-progress. In this talk, we ask “How do we better foster a sense of inclusion and allow for different types of people, with varied abilities and skills, to work together to solve problems for the future?” We'll present ten tips for fostering more inclusion in technology, based on a compilation of tips presented through a previously-published blog series.

Read more about Fostering Inclusion in Technology: Ten Tips for a Better Sense of Belonging →

Meryl Evans (she/her/deaf)

Do all deaf people know how to read lips? Know sign language? Can they drive? There are many misconceptions about deaf and hard of hearing people. Meryl will set the record straight on common misconceptions. Come to this A11yTalks session to get the facts about deaf and HoH people to enrich your accessibility and inclusion efforts.

Read more about Shattering Assumptions About Deafness →