The week of June 11-15, 2018 saw two major accessibility-focused events. While both had “Summit” in their titles, they were very different events. The state’s Chief Information Accessibility Officer (CIAO) traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the M-Enabling conference before returning to join Minnesota state employees at the Assistive Technology and Accessibility Summit in Minneapolis. Here’s a quick summary of the two events.

M-Enabling Summit: Networking with Eyes on the Future

The M-Enabling conference typically gathers leaders from major corporations and accessibility service providers. This year was no exception. The CIAO, Jay Wyant, had conversations with the accessibility leads from Microsoft, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), G3ict, Amazon, Sprint, and others.

Panels discussed the impact of the latest technological developments on accessibility and speculated on the impact of future technology from self-driving cars to artificial intelligence (AI). In between, Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai spoke on the commission’s support for people with disabilities.

Wyant served on a panel with others on the role of accessibility certification in various markets, from academia to government to private enterprise.

The conference was fully inclusive, with speakers describing their slides and captioning provided in every presentation.

Assistive Technology and Accessibility Summit: Training and Awareness

The Office of Accessibility, Minnesota IT Services (MNIT), and the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) planned the two-day Assistive Technology and Accessibility Summit at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. K-12 and post-secondary educators, and state employees came together to learn more about assistive technology and accessibility.

Day 2 of the Summit focused on accessibility of digital technology and how users of assistive technology are impacted by the designs and structure of websites, documents, and multimedia. Speakers represented a wide range of backgrounds, including state of Minnesota employees, Keith Bundy and Kevin Rydberg from Siteimprove, Janet Peters from the Great Lakes ADA, and Rachel Kruzel from Augsburg University. The speakers shared their accessibility tips, tricks, and design considerations. Minnesota IT Services, Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Management and Budget, and Minnesota Department of Education staff shared best practices on accessible online meetings, graphics, PDFs and PowerPoints.

Key take-aways from the event:

• “I was surprised (as a state employee) to hear about some of the struggles educators continue to face when advocating for accessible digital content for their students, but was amazed by their passion, dedication and commitment. This conference is a great way to come together, share the needs, but also educate each other (state employees and educators) and share resources.” – Jessica Cavazos, Minnesota Department of Health
• “The accessibility quick cards from the Office of Accessibility are my new best friend! They are informative, easy to follow, to make things accessible. Everything I create from now on will be more accessible.” – Educator attendee
• “I just keep learning and learning from this accessibility community.” - Attendee

Couldn’t make it this year? Check out the handouts and consider attending next year!

Thanks to everyone who planned, presented and attended this event!