Sessions
Subject to changes
Advancing Disability Inclusion and Equality in the Workplace
Taught by: Becky Curran Kekula & Diana Codispoti, Disability: IN
In this session, you will hear how CEOs from the worlds biggest companies are creating inclusive workplaces and how you can use their lessons learned to create a meaningful workplace.
How Video Trends in 2020 Are Shaping a New Wave of Inclusive Video
Taught by: 3Play Media
A look into video and accessibility trends in 2020 and how they are influencing the videos we create. Get practical tips for ensuring your videos are on-trend.
Emily Yates – Journalist & Accessibility Consultant
Taught by: Emily Yates, Journalist
In this session, Emily Yates, will share her personal story as a disabled person. She’ll dive into why access and inclusion is important, the spending power of disabled people, and the social model of disability.
Implementing Accessibility with No Dedicated Resources
Taught by: Lily Bond, 3Play Media
In this session, Lily Bond, Director of Marketing at 3Play Media, will share how 3Play has internally created a culture of inclusivity. She’ll share tips on getting leadership support, training employees, creating a task-force, and more.
Making Access Accessible For All
Taught by Stacey A. Gordon, Rework Work
In this course, diversity expert Stacey Gordon helps you recognize and acknowledge your own biases so that you can identify them when making decisions, and prevent yourself from making calls based on a biased viewpoint.
Creating a Dialogue Around Accessibility & the Importance of Internal Training
Taught by: Matt May, Head of Inclusive Design at Adobe
In this session, learn why employers should proactively talk about disability and the importance of internal training on accessibility.
How to Increase Profitability, Productivity & Brand Reputation by Creating a Disability-Inclusive Culture
Taught by Dr. Christin Bradley, CEO of Inclusive Community Home Care, and Founder of I Am Equal and Founder of the Inclusive CEO Coaching Program
In this session, you will learn why creating a disability-inclusive business culture is essential for business success.
The Five stages of Accessible Recruiting
Taught by: Sheri Byrne-Haber, Accessibility Architect at VMware
This session will cover best practices for job postings, application, interviews, and onboarding. It will also touch on AI bias against people with disabilities in applicant tracking systems.
Fireside Chat: Creating an Internal Strategy for Inclusivity and Accessibility
Taught by: Christopher Patnoe, Head of Accessibility Programs and Disability Inclusion at Google in conversation with Jennison Asuncion, Head of Accessibility Engineering Evangelism at LinkedIn
Many people understand they need internal accessibility, but sometimes outlining the why is hard. In this session, Jennison will discuss with Christopher how Google has been able to achieve this to create a culture that champions accessibility.
How Inclusive DEI Programs Can Ensure Better Product Accessibility
Taught by: Natalie Tucker, Accessibility Evangelist and Lori Samuels, Accessibility Director at NBC Universal Media
Learn how diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to creating better products for your customers.
Meet the Speakers
Christopher Patnoe, Google
(he/him)
Christopher Patnoe is the Head of Accessibility Programs and Disability Inclusion for Google. He leads Google’s efforts around the accessibility of product, people (both Googler and end users) and partnerships. He has more than 20 years experience in Tech working at companies like Apple, Sony Ericsson and Disney where he’s built hardware, software, and services. His current passion is Accessibility at the intersection of immersive technologies (AR/VR) and consumer hardware. He is the chair for the Immersive Captions Community Group with the W3C, is a co-Chair of the XR Association Accessibility Working Group, and sits on the Board of Trustees for the American Foundation for the Blind. Christopher has a degree in Music from U.C. Berkeley.
Jennison Asuncion, Linkedin
Jennison started his full-time digital accessibility career in 2006 on the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) IT Accessibility Team, consulting across the organization on how to make web, Windows Desktop, and mobile/tablet experiences accessible and usable to persons with different disabilities. He joined LinkedIn in 2013, where today, he is Head, Accessibility Engineering Evangelism.
Sheri Byrne-Haber, VMware
(she/her/disabled/determined person)
After successfully establishing a robust accessibility program as the Head of Accessibility at VMware, Byrne-Haber transitioned into a strategy/architect role to continue leading accessibility initiatives. Sheri is a prominent global subject matter expert in the fields of disability and accessibility in business and educational settings. She is best known for launching digital accessibility programs at multiple Fortune 200 companies including McDonald’s, Albertsons, and VMware, as well as consulting on government accessibility. Her programs have positively impacted millions of more than 1 billion global people with disabilities.
Christin Bradley PhD, Inclusive CEO Coaching Program
(she/her)
Christin is a Disability Integration Advisor at FEMA. She is also the CEO of Inclusive Community Home Care, and Founder of I Am Equal and Founder of the Inclusive CEO coaching program.
She is a huge advocate for the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in all aspects of the community. Christin has extensive knowledge regarding equal access principles and strategies needed to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities in various environments that include Education, Employment, & Disaster Planning at the state, local & federal level and throughout the community.
Christin has worked in emergency management for over 5 years, and have served as a Regional Disability Integration Advisor supporting 6 states that include; Texas, Lousiana, New Mexico, Arkansas & Oklahoma. She is responsible for providing advice and technical assistance to Federal, State, Local & Tribal partners on how to effectively meet the needs of individuals in disaster planning efforts. She has provided numerous training and workshops on disability awareness, people-first language & Accessible communication to business leaders and organizations.
Christin also has over 5 years of experience teaching special education and have served as a Special Education Director helping to improve processes and policies that effectively meet the needs of students with disabilities.
Natalie Tucker
(she/they)
Natalie Patrice Tucker has nearly two decades of experience building the accessible web. Committed to a web that works for everyone, she spends her days (and far too many nights and weekends) serving as a subject matter expert in the area of web accessibility and training an army of developers and stakeholders to carry the charge.
Lori Samuels, NBCUniversal Media
Lori Samuels is the Accessibility Director at NBCUniversal Media.
Matt May, Adobe
(he/him)
Matt May is the Head of Inclusive Design at Adobe.
Becky Curran Kekula, Disability:IN
(she/her/hers)
Becky Kekula is an international motivational speaker and advocate for inclusion! She also serves as the Disability Equality Index Director at Disability:IN, the leading nonprofit resource for business disability inclusion worldwide. After receiving a college degree, Becky worked for a decade in the entertainment and news media industries. Currently, she’s working with corporations to help advance disability inclusion and equality. Becky also happens to be a little person. She proudly identifies as part of the disability community. She has spoken at over 300 venues such as companies, government agencies, and schools. Becky is excited to be joining us.
Lily Bond, 3Play Media
(she/her)
As the Director of Marketing, I lead the marketing team and help strategize ways to grow our brand, presence, and thought leadership in the field of video accessibility. I have written dozens of papers and over a hundred blog articles on the subjects of captioning, video SEO, and IT accessibility, and often present on these topics.
You might see me at tech and accessibility conferences – come say hi!
Emily Yates, Accessibility Consultant, Journalist & Speaker
(she/her)
I’m Emily, an Accessibility Consultant and Journalist, living in Glasgow.
After volunteering at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, I was invited to Rio de Janeiro by the British Consulate to speak on the importance of access and inclusion ahead of the 2016 Games. Whilst there, I was offered a role as Accessibility Consultant for MetroRio, the underground transport system for the city. Over the next two years, I advised on modernisations of existing stations, conducted risk assessments, trained staff and worked with architects to create plans for an accessible transport line to the Olympic Park.
Now an accessibility consultant in the UK, I am the inclusive design associate at CCD Design and Ergonomics and have most recently worked with Heathrow Airport to update their Access and Inclusion Standards for passengers and staff.
I frequently present and write on disability issues, having fronted several documentaries for BBC Three and written for the Guardian, the Independent and Telegraph Travel. I authored the Lonely Planet Guide to Accessible Rio de Janeiro, endorsed by the International Paralympic Committee and available to download by athletes, tourists, and locals alike ahead of the 2016 Games.
A wheelchair user myself, I am also a disability awareness trainer for Enhance the UK and manage their Undressing Disability campaign, championing the right for disabled people to have access to sexual expression. I recently delivered a TEDx talk on this issue and am currently studying for a PhD in Women’s Studies at the University of York.
Diana Codispoti, Disability:IN
(she/her)
Diana Codispoti serves as Director of Corporate Stakeholder Engagement at Disability:IN, the leading nonprofit resource for business disability inclusion worldwide. Prior, Diana worked in the advertising, marketing, and design industry for 15 years.
She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Houston System and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The University of Tulsa. Currently, she is responsible for managing various relationships with key stakeholders across the portfolio of programs at Disability:IN. In her spare time, Diana enjoys volunteering, public speaking, participating in OCR events, and traveling to new places.
Stacey A. Gordon, Rework Work
(she/her)
Stacey A. Gordon is a diversity, inclusion, and career strategist and the CEO of Rework Work.
At Rework Work, Stacey works to reduce bias in recruiting and barriers to hiring. Leading at the intersection of recruiting, career development, diversity, and workplace culture, Stacey has delivered keynote speeches globally and developed educational content that has engaged professionals both in person and in a virtual environment. She focuses on reworking how companies work by creating inclusive workplace cultures. That includes how they recruit, hire, and engage women and professionals of color. Stacey is also a highly rated coach practitioner who has facilitated coaching of chief diversity officers and other diversity and inclusion (D&I) practitioners at several D&I forums.