Accessibility and Inclusion Events in August, September and October
At Hope Tech we keep a close eye on accessibility and inclusion events worldwide as we continually strive to learn and participate in the ongoing progression of thought and technological innovation. In this post, we share a forward look at upcoming events, including those we are attending.
August
Teach Access: Accessibility, Ethics, & AI
Wednesday, August 5th, 1:00 - 2:00 pm (ET)
The Teach Access Alumni Network is excited to host a moderated panel discussion about Accessibility, Ethics, & AI. Join the discussion along with Ariana Aboulafia, Disability Rights in Technology Policy Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology; Jutta Treviranus, Director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) and professor in the faculty of Design at OCAD University in Toronto; and Rolando Mendez, Director of Education, Teach Access. All three panelists recently contributed chapters to Digital Accessibility Ethics: Disability Inclusion in All Things Tech, published earlier this year.
U.S. Access Board: Accessible Voting in Tribal and Rural Communities: Strategies and Lessons for Polling Places
Thursday, August 6th, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM (ET)
Join the United States Access Board and The Native American Disability Law Center (NADLC) for a collaborative webinar on polling place accessibility. The Native American Disability Law Center is a private nonprofit organization that advocates for the legal rights of Native Americans with disabilities. This webinar will cover NADLC’s report of polling place accessibility in Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribal elections, discuss community-led advocacy to affect changes in accessibility, and discuss strategies and lessons for self-advocates, families, and professionals to utilize in their work. Additional resources on polling place accessibility will be provided.
Registrants will be able to submit questions in advance during the registration process. Real-time captioning and sign language interpretation will be provided.
WordPress Accessibility Meetup: Creating a Digital Accessibility Program in Higher Education: Jesse Loesberg
Thursday, August 6th, 10:00 AM (Central)
At the University of California, digital accessibility has become an essential part of providing equitable access to information and services. In this presentation, Jesse Loesberg will give you an inside look at how the library built and implemented a digital accessibility program following a Title II ADA lawsuit and a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice.
deque: Metrics that unite your team to achieve and sustain accessibility
Thursday, August 6th, 11:00 am—12:00 pm (ET), 15:00—16:00 (GMT)
When digital accessibility is a common goal shared across product owners, developers, designers, and leadership, the progress you can make is incredible. But how do you achieve that alignment? You measure.
WordPress Accessibility Meetup: Accessibility Testing: What Automated Tools Will NEVER Catch by Tanveer Khan
Tuesday, August 18th, 05:00 PM (CEST)
Automated accessibility testing tools have become essential parts of modern development workflows. While these tools are valuable for quickly identifying common accessibility issues, they only detect a portion of real-world accessibility barriers.
Digital Accessibility Experts Live: Lightning Talks
Thursday, August 27th, 4:00 PM (BST)
What we learned in our favourite projects of the last year that can help you.
You’ll hear first-hand stories from the field, across different sectors, teams and types of challenges, to inspire solutions where you work. If you’re interested in how accessibility plays out in practice (beyond theory, guidelines or best intentions) this session will give you a useful, real-world perspective.
Summer of Access
Sessions run July through August 2026.
The Summer of Access webinar series is an Accessibility Learning & Design Community effort organized by L’Etoile Education to help educators, instructional designers, and Learning and Development professionals build accessible digital experiences.
We Built It Right, So Why Can’t Anyone Use It? by Angela Fowler
Tuesday, August 4th, 1:00 PM (ET) / 10:00 AM (PST)
Teams follow best practices, use modern tools, and even run automated accessibility checks—yet users still struggle. This session breaks down why that happens. Accessibility failures are rarely caused by a lack of effort. More often, they come from systems that were never designed to support real human use in the first place. Automated checkers only catch a fraction of real issues—they don't identify broken workflows, confusing navigation, or experiences that technically pass but fail in practice. Through real examples and live demonstrations, you'll learn how accessibility issues emerge from tools, training, and process gaps, and how to start recognizing these failures before your users do.
This PDF Looked Easy… Until I Opened the Tag Tree by Angelina Smith
Thursday, August 13th, 1:00 PM (ET) / 10:00 AM (PST)
Accurately estimating document accessibility effort is a critical skill. This session focuses on the early assessment process: identifying PDF red flags, understanding how source files impact the level of effort, and recognizing when a document may require significantly more work than its appearance suggests. You'll learn how to determine level of effort and weigh decisions before sinking time into the tag tree. Ideal for anyone who works with document accessibility, whether you're new to remediation or looking to sharpen your scoping skills.
Beyond Alt Text: Making Complex STEM Visualizations Accessible at Scale by Christin Monroe
Tuesday, August 18th, 1:00 PM (ET) / 10:00 AM (PST)
What does it actually take to make highly visual STEM content accessible? In this session, Christin will share lessons learned from writing alt text and accessibility notes figures in a biomolecular visualization textbook, e.g., molecular models, Venn diagrams, screenshots, and tables.
Grounded in real examples and before/after revisions, participants will explore when alt text is not enough (e.g., complex diagrams and 3D representations). How to handle screenshots, tables, and interactive tools. Designing with color, structure, and cognitive load in mind. Deciding when to describe, simplify, or mark visuals as decorative.
September
ImATEx - Immersive Assistive Technology Expo
9th September 2026 08:00 AM - 9th September 2026 08:00 PM (BST)
ImATEx is the world’s first 100% virtual Assistive Technology Expo - built to bring the energy, discovery, and practical problem-solving of a major AT exhibition to anyone, anywhere, without the barriers of travel, cost, or location.
Look out for Hope Tech! We will be exhibiting and presenting Sixth Sense at this event.
Accessibility of Forms Workshop by Afixt
September 16, 8am – 4pm (ET)
Learn to design and build accessible, user-friendly web forms: from choosing the right fields and labels to validation and error handling that works for everyone, including people with disabilities. Topics include:
DOM and Accessibility – How HTML elements map to accessibility APIs and assistivetechnologies
Intro to Forms – why forms matter; high-level requirements & design principles
Form Layout and field choice – choosing the layout and selecting fields
Labels, Accessible Name, and supplemental information – understanding how labels are conveyed to users
Submission – Primary vs. secondary actions; AJAX form processing
Validation – Smart defaults; inline and global validation
Bullock Inclusion: Future of Fashion Show
September 18, 6:30 PM | St Mary's Church London
Catch the latest trends and tech in style at the Future of Fashion Show @LFW - where fashion meets the future! This in-person event is all about breaking fashion boundaries and showcasing the coolest trends. Experience a night filled with cutting-edge designs from up-and-coming designers, each showcasing fashion that works for people and the planet.
Driven by our commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, and Ethical Sustainability, this event is a celebration of style that empowers everyone to feel comfortable in their own skin - both on and off the runway.
Look out for Hopetech! SixthSense will be featured at this event.
Celebrating the Web Accessibility Directive Sixth Anniversary: WAD+EAA=True!
IAAP EU and the European Disability Forum (EDF) are hosting an online workshop on the 22 of September followed by an online event on the 23 of September 2026 to celebrate the Web Accessibility Directive Sixth Anniversary as well as the European Accessibility Act.
Online interactive workshop
Tuesday, 22 September, 13.00-16.00 (CEST)
Many EN301549 requirements are not found in WCAG and therefore lack “understanding” documentation. A group of committed volunteers has met regularly since 2023 to discuss and align on how to interpret and test these requirements. The aim is to learn from each other and help the community align on a voluntary basis. Until now, the results have had an impact on the development of the EN-standard, but please note that this work has no legal implications and is purely informative.
Online accessibility event
Wednesday, 23 September, 09.00-17.00 (CEST)
Welcome to an online event where accessibility experts, end user representatives, public and private sector, researchers, monitoring agencies, policy makers and other stakeholders from across the EU meet to share knowledge, be inspired and support each other. The topics of the day include best practices, methods, tools and solutions to improve digital accessibility for all. The agenda consists of presentations, panel discussions and Q&A with the audience.
AccessibleEU: Building an Accessible Book Ecosystem: Publishers at the Heart of the EAA Transition
Wednesday 30 September 2026, 09:00 - 13:30 (CEST)
This AccessibleEU event is organised jointly with the European Blind Union (EBU), to support the European publishing sector in its transition towards accessibility.
October
Stop Ableism: Research event about ableism, feminism and intersectionality
Friday, 2nd October, 13:00 | University of Vienna, Sensengasse 3a, 1090 Vienna, Lecture hall 1
Do you want to know more about ableism and how to challenge it from the perspective of disabled women? Then join us for presentations about: feminist disability activism, children and parenting, workplace inclusion, disability pride and joy, sexuality and body ownership.
Deafblind UK Conference 2026
Thursday 8th October | 9.30 - 16.30 BST
This year’s online conference, In Touch: Exploring touch, tactility and deafblindness, has been created to explore the power of touch and tactility from many different angles. We are bringing together the Deafblind community, families, carers, practitioners, academics, technologists and researchers to share knowledge, experience and ideas.
Austrian Disability Council Conference: Violence in the Lives of People with Disabilities – Causes, Prevention, and Protection
Thursday, 8th October | 10:00 – 16.30 CET
This year's conference of the Austrian Disability Council is dedicated to the focus topic of violence. Existing challenges and risks will be examined, and prevention and protection measures will be discussed.
People with disabilities are significantly more frequently affected by violence than people without disabilities. With Article 16 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Austria has committed itself to effectively protecting people with disabilities from violence and enabling them to live safe, self-determined lives. But how can this right be realised in practice? What conditions are needed to effectively prevent violence, identify it at an early stage, and support those affected?
Zero Project Technology Forum Tokyo 2026
Friday, 9 October 2026 | 16:00 - 18:30 | Tokyo Innovation Base (TiB) - 1F - Square 2
The Zero Project Technology Forum Tokyo 2026 connects highly innovative Assistive Technology (AT) solutions for accessibility and disability inclusion with potential Support Partners. Learn more: technology-forum.zeroproject.org
Organized as an in-person, invitation-only, half-day event at TechBIZKON X on October 9, 2026, the Tech Forum Tokyo offers exclusive discovery of promising AT Innovations. Through targeted matchmaking, participants will have opportunities to connect with regional and international investors, corporate representatives, and scaling partners.
Look out for Hopetech! We will be exhibiting and presenting SixthSense at this event.
Accessibility Auditing the AFixt Way
Wednesday, 21 October | 8:00 am – 4:00 pm (ET)
Learn a data-driven, tool-assisted approach to accessibility auditing — from automated scanning and manual verification to prioritized reporting and remediation tracking — using the exact process and methodology we use.
