People-first

Sia Magadan (she/ella) & Val Neumark (she/they)

This session will share the highlights and ‘warts’ of our journey to shifting our organizational culture. We will highlight the Liberatory Design Framework and Mindsets, as well as some of the other techniques we use to embody our values and put them into action. Our values are not only forward facing—meaning the code of conduct for clients; but these same values also hold us accountable internally, as an organization that not just uses the words but embodies the practice—making continual space to notice and reflect upon how power, identity and oppression show up in varying contexts of our organization and work. Join us as we discuss the steps we’ve taken to hold ourselves and each other accountable with grace.

Read more about Designing 'With' & Not 'For,' rootid's Culture Shifting Process →

Alex Tait (she/her)

Interfaces are doing too much - we've gone from cognitive overload to cognitive overlords. There is so much drive in tech to increase engagement that websites and software platforms have become intrusive and annoying at best, and dangerous at worst. As an accessibility "consigliere", I come across issues every day that could be "fixed", but often a better choice is to remove or change the pattern to minimize cognitive overload. Let's take a look at some common interface patterns and explore why they exist, if they are accomplishing their intended purpose, and how we might reconsider them and slay the cognitive overlords!

Read more about Cognitive Overlords →

Todd Libby (he/him)

Accessibility is often overlooked or bolted on to the end of a project from the experiences in my career in web development and design. The case for accessibility is something we as people who create and build things for the web should be implementing and advocating for disabled users from the inception of a project to the release or handoff and beyond.

Read more about Making a strong case for accessibility →

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 →