Accessibility: Past, Present, and Future

Media

Presented at 9:15am in Cotton Creek I on Friday, November 16, 2018.

Speaker(s)

• Gerard Cohen, Lead Accessibility Strategist, Atlassian

Session Details

• Length of Session: 1-hr
• Format: Lecture
• Expertise Level: Beginner
• Type of session: General Conference

Summary

In this presentation, I go throughout history to meet famous people/events that have helped shaped accessibility, and look forward to see what's to come.

Abstract

This is a fun, media-heavy presentation that is suitable for all audiences, regardless of experience or knowledge of web accessibility. The hope is to educate and inspire attendees to use their creativity to help improve the human experience.

Keypoints

1. Learn about key people and events in the past that helped shape accessibility
2. Get an update on the current day status of accessibility
3. Look into the future to see how technology will make things better

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access

Speaker Bio(s)

Gerard Cohen

Over the past decade, Gerard has built and advised top-notch digital accessibility teams that have impacted millions of individuals worldwide. His experience ranges from supporting commercial financial applications responsible for transferring trillions of dollars globally, to enhancing accessibility on pre-Elon Twitter. Currently, Gerard drives the Atlassian Design System Accessibility Team where he collaborates with a group of exceptional designers and engineers to help enhance the accessibility of components used to build team productivity tools like Jira, Confluence, and Trello.

Gerard is recognized as a catalyst for change, igniting cultural transformation at both grassroots and executive levels. He possesses an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of digital accessibility and effectively bridges gaps between HR, Legal, Marketing, Product, Design, Engineering and Quality Assurance teams.

He has a remarkable history of advocating for individuals with disabilities and promoting diversity and fairness in the workplace. Moreover, he is highly regarded for his expertise, as evidenced by his frequent speaking engagements at conferences nationwide and the widespread recognition of his courses on the Pluralsight learning platform as essential training for organizations worldwide.