Accessibility Blog

Accessibility.com Opens Registration for AccessibilityPlus 2022

Written by Kevin McDaniel | December 16, 2021

Editor's Note: Register for the first event (AccessibilityPlus 2022).

Not exactly a quote...but, can we do it again? ;)  - APlus 2021 Participant

That's the plan. 

Recap: AccessibilityPlus 2021

In October of 2021 Accessibility.com launched its first initiative to provide exceptional, objective, and trustworthy information from and for accessibility professionals around the globe − the results, however, were a bit unexpected. 

The best I’ve seen so far. - APlus 2021 Participant

With an initial goal of engaging just a fraction of the over 2,000 registrants of 2021, on October 12th our host Alycia Anderson turned on her microphone and, for the next three days, spoke to one of the most diverse audiences I've ever experienced, which included accessibility professionals, researchers, decision-makers, advocates, and more, from the United States to Australia, from South America to Europe.

With the support and expertise of some of the most incredible people in the industry, we believed we'd accomplished our objective, but we were blown away by the feedback from our viewers in the weeks that followed. 

Very inspiring. - APlus 2021 Participant

Of all attendees surveyed, 99% (exactly 99%) would recommend attending the conference again. 

Rating the conference on a scale of 1 - 5, the audience's final score was 4.51 overall. 

My eyes have been opened. - APlus 2021 Participant

Perspective

An old friend of mine says often "we're really great at admiring the problem, not so good with solutions." 

This is the challenge we hope to overcome.

Before joining Accessibility.com, I believed that the accessibility tribe was small, outnumbered in the board room, and years away from moving the needle in any significant way. After the conference, I couldn't help but believe we may be closer than we think. 

The passion of the guests and hosts [...] this set the conference aside from all others I have been involved with [...] this was amazing. - APlus 2021 Participant

As I worked through the draft of this announcement, I struggled with how to choose what feedback to share, and where it made sense − there is only so much white space. There were hundreds of comments, so many that spoke to the professionalism, inspiration, and passion of the speakers, it would be impossible to share them all here − but I think these last few sum it up nicely.   

Great content, top experts. 

Content, content, content.

Excellent conference. 

Whew. 

The energy. - APlus 2021 Participants

Energy, no doubt.

AccessibilityPlus 2021, was a huge success! I enjoyed learning from so many skilled speakers and such a variety of industries. I am excited for AccessibilityPlus 2022.... :)

So are we. 

Special thanks to our expert speakers and sponsors

Speakers

While we'd love to take credit for all of the wonderful feedback we received, none of it would have been possible without the industry leaders who believed in and supported this effort. A special thanks to all of our speakers, including: 

  • Judith Heumann, Disability Rights Advocate
  • Caroline Casey, Founder - The Valuable 500
  • Alycia Anderson, Inclusion Superwoman - The Alycia Anderson Company
  • Meg O'Connell, Founder and CEO - Global Disability Inclusion
  • Christopher Patnoe, Head of Accessibility and Disability Inclusion - Google
  • Joe Devon, Co-Founder, Diamond
  • Gavin Neate, Founder and CEO - Welco.me.com
  • Cat Noone, CEO - Stark
  • Craig Leen, Partner - K&L Gates
  • Patrick Bardsley, CEO and Co-Founder - Spectrum
  • Meryl Evans, Marketing and Accessibility - Meryl.net
  • Bill Curtis-Davidson, Co-Director and Sr. Consultant - PEAT
  • Alexa Huth, Strategic Communications Lead - PEAT
  • Jack McElaney, VP Sales and Marketing - MicroAssist
  • Hiram Kuykendall, CTO - MicroAssist
  • Lori Samuels, Accessibility Director - NBCUniversal
  • Jason C. Taylor, Chief Innovation Strategist - UsableNet
  • Sheri Bryne-Haber, Senior Staff Architect - VMWare
  • Andrea Mocellin, Founder and Inventor - Revolve Air
  • Andrew Houghton, Founder and CEO - Disability Inclusion Solutions
  • Kathryn Gibbs, Facilities Management Director, Engineering - Merck &Co. 
  • Michael Perry, Executive Vice President - Progressive AE
  • Andy Traub, CEO and Founder - Traub & Associates Consulting
  • Michael Curran, Director/Software Developer - NV Access Limited
  • Paula Tobler, Supervising Attorney - Disability Rights California
  • Jeremy Horelick, Vice President of Business Development - ADA Site Compliance
  • Crystal Preston-Watson, Senior Digital Accessibility Analyst - Salesforce

Organizations that attended AccessibilityPlus 2021 definitely got tremendous value for their time. The guidance and insights provided on how to build an inclusive and accessible workplace was invaluable. It really helped show how to add the A to DEIA programs.

A to the DEI sounds like a great IDEA − ok, I'll stop.   

2021 Sponsors

A special thanks to our sponsors as well. We are incredibly grateful for your support and dedication to making the world a more accessible place. 

I left this conference feeling hopeful and energized to do the work of Accessibility with a capital "A"! - C.B.

Thank you for your participation in AccessibilityPlus 2021!