European Accessibility Summit 2024
What to expect for this year?
On May 7th, the European Disability Forum (EDF) will organise its 4th European Accessibility Summit with Microsoft, in Brussels and online.
As in previous editions, this is a hybrid event, bringing together the disability movement, industry and policymakers to discuss all things accessibility.
This year in June there will be European Parliament Elections, with a whole new, or not so new, set of leaders for the EU in the next five years. We will assess what has been achieved in the last five years- and what remains to be done.
We will also have a panel looking at elections. How does digital accessibility, or inaccessibility, impact persons with disabilities voting and standing for election? Where are the barriers, and what are the solutions?
We have perhaps all heard about the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, which businesses trading in Europe will have to follow- will this improve accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities at work?
Finally, as usual, sprinkled throughout the day you can experience technology demonstrations and ask your questions to the experts.
We look forward to seeing you.
Accessibility
The conference’s language is English. All sessions will include international sign interpretation and live subtitling and the venue is wheelchair accessible.
The conference will be livestreamed and recorded, and a photographer will also be present.
Contact
If you have any questions about your participation or any specific accessibility requirements, please contact the event team: accessibilitysummit@forum-europe.com
Agenda
Do you want to know all the sessions and speakers of the event? We will regularly update the agenda below as speakers are confirmed. Keep an eye on this page to stay posted.
Full Agenda European Accessibility Summit 2024 – 22 April 2024 (Word document)
9:30-10:00:
Registrations and breakfast
10:00-10:10:
Introductory remarks “Accessibility driving innovation”
Nanna-Louise Linde, Vice President, European Government Affairs, Microsoft
Catherine Naughton, Director, European Disability Forum (EDF)
10:10-10:20:
High-level welcome remarks by Belgian Minister of Pensions and Social Integration, in charge of Persons with Disabilities, Combating Poverty and Beliris
10:20-11:20:
Panel 1: Reflecting on accessibility achievements and the road ahead in the next 5 years, with:
Alejandro Moledo, Deputy Director and Head of Policy, European Disability Forum
Dr. Klaus Miesenberger, Head of Instituten Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
More speakers will be announced soon.
Panel moderated by Chiara Giovannini, Deputy Director-General and Senior Manager Policy and Innovation at ANEC, the European consumer voice in standardisation.
11:20-11:40:
Break
11:40-13:00:
Panel 2: Accessible Technology and Political Participation in the EU Elections, with:
Nellika Valder, Deputy Head of State Electoral Office of Estonia
Helga Stevens, Former Member of the European Parliament
Dave Leichtman, Director, Corporate Civic Responsibility, Democracy Forward, Microsoft
Thijs Degheldere, Product Design Lead, Itsme
Panel moderated by Nadia Hadad, Executive Committee Member of the European Disability Forum.
13:00-14:00:
Lunch break
14:00-15:00:
Panel 3: Inclusive Employment: the potential impact of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive on workplace inclusion
Speakers will be announced soon.
Panel moderated by Ornella Cosomati-Koschwitz, Director of Sustainability Policy at Microsoft.
15:00-15:45:
Conversation on AI for accessibility: Opportunities for users and organisations,with:
Rylin Rodgers, Disability Policy Advisor, Microsoft Accessibility
Thorkild Oelsen, EDF Executive Committee Member
15:45-16:30:
AI Demo: What is AI? How to interact with AI? How to do prompts? How to use Copilot?
By Hector Minto, Senior Accessibility Evangelist, Microsoft
16:30-16:40:
Closing remarks by:
Rylin Rodgers, Disability Policy Advisor, Microsoft Accessibility
Catherine Naughton, Director, European Disability Forum (EDF)
16:40-18:00:
Networking reception in Brussels
Speakers
More info on the speakers coming soon.
Past editions
2023 EU Accessibility Summit
In 2023, the European Accessibility Summit focused on Accessible Technology. Check all the resources related to the 2023 edition:
- Event page with video messages and full recording of the event
- Designing devices for all – a perspective from the industry and the disability movement (article – October 2023)
- Enabling an accessible digital work environment (article – October 2023)
- Understanding the Relationship Between AccessibleEU Centre and Standardisation (article – September 2023)
- Join the European Accessibility Summit 2023 for the Latest Insights on Accessible Technology (article – May 2023)
2022 EU Accessibility Summit
In 2022, the European Accessibility Summit focused on the theme “From Policy into Practice”. Check all the resources related to the 2022 edition:
- Event page with agenda and speakers
- European Accessibility Summit 2022: From Policy into Practice (summary article of the event)
2021 EU Accessibility Summit
In 2021, the first edition of the European Accessibility Summit focused on “Accessibility and the Future of Work: The Role of Digital”. Check all the resources related to the first edition: