My Activities 2018

Join the Toronto Elevate Tech Festival, September 24 to 27, 2018

At Elevate, we'll showcase the people, projects and stories that demonstrate how we can continue to build a more inclusive city together. We'll question the status quo and identify ways we can modernize public life. Join us to learn how you can be part of the important change happening in cities and advocate for equality for everyone. I will be speaking at the North York Central Library on September 26, on the topic of social inclusion and how we can revelutionize the design process to create smarter cities for the future. Smart people build smart cities, but life experiences is the best teacher and learning from each other will ensure your inclusion strategy is on track.

Elevate 2018 Social Impact

Join me at the Toronto Association of Systems and Software Quality (TASSQ) meet up, June 26, 2018.

If you have an interest in software quality or software testing, then come and learn why accessibility is important to your organization success. Accessibility has become a mainstream requirement that can transform the business. Investing in accessible and usable technology products and services, workplace environments and facilities opens up new markets, increases productivity, liberates talent, and enables innovation. Good design is the bridge that will close the digital divide, and good company values will bridge the inclusive divide.

Join me at the University of Guelph Accessibility Conference, Designing for Diverse Abilities, May 29-30, 2018

As a Inclusive Media and Design partner, I will be speaking on the Digital Divide and The Dark Matter. Technology, as we are frequently being reminded, holds great promise... and a dark side. Automated tools for assessing website accessibility, for example, can be useful up to an extent - equivalent to a small army of analysts combing umpteen lines of code for barriers. However, those "analysts" lack judgement, or ability to contextualize like humans can. It would be massively complex to teach machines to exhibit (virtual) wisdom. This presentation is not about automated accessibility tools. It's about the digital divide, how technology can be used to further place the underprivileged at a disadvantage - and what we can do about it. Join us in Room 160 Johnston Hall, on Wednesday, May 30.

Join me at the 26th annual AEBC AGM - Our Journey, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, April 27-29, 2018

The conference will be held at the Metrotown Hilton in Burnaby, BC. For 25 years the AEBC has played a critical role in targeting its advocacy efforts to change the lives of Canadians who are blind, deaf-blind, and partially sighted for the better. With the rapid deployment of technology, however, and the pace of change which surrounds us, the AEBC must learn to become a more nimble organization, capable of responding in a quick and effective way to the world around us. Join us to celebrate, reflect, engage with others, and give voice to AEBC in creating positive social change. On April 29, at 10:45AM, I will speak on the Let's Talk About A Digital Canada.

Join me at the Ontario Digital Inclusion Summit in Toronto, February 9 and 10, 2018

This event is sponsored by the Ontario Public Policy Forum and the Government of Ontario. The Ontario Digital Inclusion Summit aims to find, understand and fix the gaps that keep some citizens from accessing and benefiting from the digital world. I will be speaking at this event, on behalf of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians national organization. What are the knowledge and systemic gaps that keep blind citizens from accessing and benefiting from the digital world? Click here to learn more about the presentation background information.