Get Inclusive! Join Us for Hyderabad’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 2024! 

 

Join us for Global Accessibility Awareness Day! We’re proud to announce a collaborative effort between the LV Prasad Eye Institute and the HelloA11Y Community. Together, we’re spreading awareness and advocating for accessibility worldwide. Let’s make the digital world inclusive for everyone!

We’re excited to announce that Hyderabad is hosting a celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 2024, focusing on the theme “Practical Accessibility”. 

Mark your calendars for 11th May from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is an annual event held on the third Thursday of May that aims to raise awareness about digital accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities. It was started in 2012 by a group of web developers, designers, and accessibility professionals who recognized the need to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of accessibility in digital technology. 

Learn more about Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)

About the event 

The event will feature talks and workshops by experts in the field of accessibility and inclusive design, as well as hands-on demonstrations of assistive technology and accessibility tools. Attendees will have the opportunity to network with other like-minded individuals and gain insights into the latest trends and innovations in the field of accessibility. 

This event is for everyone who believes in:  

  • Building a more equitable and inclusive society.  
  • ⁠Making technology and information accessible to all.  
  • ⁠Empowering individuals with disabilities to reach their full potential. 

Whether you’re an expert in the field or just starting your journey, we encourage you to join us for an insightful and engaging day as we:  

  • ⁠Discuss critical issues surrounding digital accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities.  
  • ⁠Hear from inspiring speakers Samir, Prem Nawaz, Siddharaj, Gayatri, Sowjanya, Abhijeet and Ramkumar.
  • ⁠Experience interactive workshops that demonstrate different assistive technologies and design practices.  
  • ⁠Engage in meaningful networking with fellow advocates, innovators, and individuals with disabilities.    

Let’s come together to make a difference and ensure that digital experiences are accessible to everyone. Save the date, spread the word, and let’s make GAAD 2024 in Hyderabad a celebration of inclusion!

START TIME END TIME PROGRAMME & DETAILS 
8:45 9:15 Registration 
9:30 9:45 Welcome note by L.V. Prasad 
9:45 10:20  Empowering Web- Accessibility through Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Speaker: Samir Dash  
10:20 10:55 Addressing Accessibility Challenges in Remediating Shopify Websites

Speaker:  Prem Nawaz Khan Maraikayar   
10:55 11:10 BREAK 
11:10 11:45 Accessibility Testing – User First Approach

Speakers: Siddharaj Suryavanshi & Gayatri R Murthy
11:45 12:20 Enhancing Document Accessibility: The Journey through Tagging, AI, and Deep Learning

Speakers: Abhijeet Sakharam Sheorey & Ramkumar Manikka Kuppusamy
12:20 12:30 Closing Note 
12:30 2:15  Lunch and Networking 

Samir Dash

Talk Title: Empowering Web-Accessibility through Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Samir is a UX designer and product innovation consultant with 17+ years of experience across various industries. He has designed software products for both enterprises and consumers, working with Fortune 100 companies like Cisco and IBM. He holds patents in AR/VR interaction and data encryption. Samir is a globally awarded designer and author of “The DesOps Enterprise”, a book on design-led automation. He is a strong advocate for AI-powered design thinking and web accessibility

Prem Nawaz Khan Maraikayar

Talk Title: Addressing Accessibility Challenges in Remediating Shopify Websites

Currently Working as an independent Developer consultant. Previously worked as Accessibility Evangelist at PayPal where everyday job includes auditing, Consulting on fixes, Dev Training, Showcase, Outreach, Automation and in spare time contribute to Open source. Some of the open source projects I curated are skipto, bootstrap a11y plugin, AATT and amCharts plugin. In 2016 , received the Universal Design Awards from National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP)

Siddharaj Suryavanshi

Talk Title: Accessibility Testing – User First Approach

Siddharaj Suryavanshi is an IAAP certified Web accessibility specialist working with BarrierBreak with 6 years of hands-on experience in Accessibility testing. He has vast experience in testing with different screen readers including JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, TalkBack, Narrator. He has an excellent knowledge of web technologies like HTML, CSS, JavaScript and web content accessibility guidelines & WAI-ARIA specifications. Siddharaj has worked closely with product managers, developers, designers to provide guidance on creating accessible user interfaces. He has also conducted trainings on various topic related to web accessibility.

Gayatri Radhakrishna Murthy

Talk Title: Accessibility Testing – User First Approach

Gayatri R Murthy is a dedicated Senior Accessibility Tester at Barrierbreak having a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and Engineering. With a passion for digital accessibility, she works to ensure that content on digital platforms are accessible for all the users. As a person with low vision, she understands the challenges and the importance of accessibility and assistive technologies to overcome them. With a strong belief in inclusion, Gayatri aspires for an accessible digital world that is devoid of any barriers.

Abhijeet Sakharam Sheorey

Talk Title: Enhancing Document Accessibility: The Journey through Tagging, AI, and Deep Learning

Working as an Operations at Apex CoVantage. Overall 18+ years of experience in publishing industry. An extensive experience in content management, people management and overall operations. Technically strong in digitization, EBooks, Accessibility, HTML/XML, prepress and financial typesetting projects.

Ramkumar Manikka Kuppusamy

Talk title: Enhancing Document Accessibility: The Journey through Tagging, AI, and Deep Learning

Working as Accessibility Project Manager at Apex from 2022. Has 4 years of experience in document remediation. Also, 17 years of hands-on experience in Print, Design, Digital, Video and Animation fields.

Address: L V Prasad Eye Institute,
Kallam Anji Reddy Campus, LV Prasad Marg, Park View Enclave, Banjara Hills,
Hyderabad, Telangana 500034

About the Talks

In today’s digital age, accessibility is not just a nice-to-have feature; it’s a fundamental necessity. However, despite significant progress, many digital platforms still pose barriers to individuals with disabilities. a study by WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind) in 2020 found that 97.4% of the top 1 million homepages had detectable WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) failures. Another study by the Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BoIA) in 2019 found that 98% of homepages failed to meet WCAG standards. These studies highlight the widespread nature of accessibility challenges on the web. Fortunately, advancements in AI offer promising solutions to address these challenges and create more inclusive experiences for all users. This talk aims to explore how AI-powered solutions can revolutionize accessibility by identifying common barriers and offering innovative fixes. By leveraging AI technologies, we can fix existing accessibility challenges in real time with lower upfront cost thereby making the internet truly inclusive and accessible to everyone.
Keywords: Accessibility, Web, WCAG, Artificial intelligence, AI

This session delves into the critical issues surrounding web accessibility within the context of Shopify websites. From understanding the barriers faced by diverse user groups to implementing effective remediation strategies, attendees will gain valuable insights and practical solutions for ensuring inclusivity and compliance in e-commerce platforms.

Accessibility testing has always been known for heavy reliance on manual testing and less on automated testing. In this session, we’ll be focusing on an important aspect of manual accessibility testing – “User first approach” .

We’ll discuss:

  • WCAG overview
  • Accessibility Conformance vs User Experience
  • Understand benefits of user testing with real world examples
  • Structure
  • Navigation
  • Alternatives for non-text content
  • Content Clarity
  • Compatibility with different technologies
  • Assistive Technology Demonstration
  • Q & A

We aim to highlight the importance of including users with disabilities in the accessibility testing life cycle and thereby build inclusive products and solutions!

Ram Kumar M K and Abhijeet Sheorey shed light on the imperative journey of accessibility in documents. Ram emphasizes the significance of tagging, element description, screen readers, and accessibility reports, highlighting their pivotal role in ensuring inclusivity. On the other hand, Abhijeet delves into the role of AI, particularly Deep Learning Algorithms (DLA), in revolutionizing document accessibility. Their combined insights underscore the fusion of traditional methods with cutting-edge AI technologies to make documents universally accessible.

About the Partners

Established in 1987, L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness, is a comprehensive eye health facility. The Institute has ten active arms to its areas of operations: Clinical Services, Education, Research, Vision Rehabilitation, Rural and Community Eye Health, Eye Banking, Advocacy and Policy Planning, Capacity Building, Innovation and Product Development. LVPEI is managed by two not-for-profit entities – Hyderabad Eye Institute (HEI) and Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation (HERF).

Helloa11y is a community initiative founded in 2020 towards realizing digital accessibility. It aims to connect those million dots through learning and sharing, be it online or in the physical space. We aim to bridge the gap in accessibility via

  1. Empowering through knowledge sharing
  2. Empowering people with diverse abilities in active participation and engagement
  3. Bringing the right people to educate and enable the untapped power of digital inclusion.

Watch out for this space for more a11y events, webinars, and speaking engagements on digital accessibility!

Think Accessibility – Think BarrierBreak

BarrierBreak is the leader in offshore Digital Accessibility testing and consulting based in India, founded in the year 2004 with a strong belief that that technology can empower people with disabilities and elderly to live independently.

BarrierBreak was founded on three basic principles – technology, hiring people with disabilities and a for-profit model.

Apex CoVantage is a technology-led supplier of prepress, data conversion, editorial, and content enhancement services to publishers, libraries, and owners of large content collections worldwide. Founded in 1988 by Shashikant and Margaret Gupta, Apex is rooted in the ability to remove friction from processes. Our technologies and systems leverage Human Process Engineering to provide effective, cost-efficient solutions to our customers who own or create huge amounts of content – from manuscripts to photos and videos and in-between. By balancing leading technology and broad industry expertise, Apex delivers exceptional content and media solutions to its customers. Apex has been managing large-scale content projects around the world for nearly 30 years.

We exist to create an inclusive society for people with disabilities through affordable and appropriate technological innovations. We are currently working on developing two products, ‘Vision Nanny’ and ‘Spacefelt’.

  • Vision Nanny: Around 36M children globally are affected by Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), the leading cause of childhood blindness that occurs due to brain damage. Due to a critical shortage of vision therapists, most children miss early intervention. ‘Vision Nanny’ is a SaaS platform that helps parents/caregivers provide home-based intervention through a host of devices like tablets/Smart TVs.
    Website: visionnanny.com
  • Spacefelt: People with visual impairment often face challenges while trying to identify the colours of clothing, sorting documents, identifying medicines, etc. Most often they are forced to take help from sighted persons, but many wish they can do these tasks independently. Spacefelt is an affordable smartphone and QR code-based solution that helps to easily label and identify things with voice or text.
    Website: spacefelt.com

At DigitalA11Y, we are your go-to digital accessibility partners, dedicated to guiding enterprises and small businesses through the intricacies of web accessibility. Our range of services includes accessibility audits, consulting, remediation, training, and more, ensuring that your online presence complies with international laws such as ADA, Section 508, AODA, EAA, and other recognized standards. Founded by Raghavendra Satish Peri, DigitalA11Y is not just a company; it’s a passion project driven by personal experience. Raghavendra, who is visually impaired, brings a unique perspective, having faced firsthand the challenges of visual disability and health issues. Join hands with DigitalA11Y, where expertise meets empathy.

Powered by Our Conference Partners

LV Prasad Eye Institute
HelloA11Y
Barrier Break
Apex Covantage
GrailMaker Innovations
DigitalA11Y

Inspiring Voices: Our Conference Speakers

A diverse panel of speakers sharing their expertise and insights. Get ready to be inspired and challenged by our esteemed speakers.

Samir dash

User Experience Design Lead

Prem Nawaz Khan Maraikayar

Digital Accessibility specialist

Siddharaj Suryavanshi

Accessibility QA Specialist

Abhijeet Sakharam Sheorey

Associate Vice President – Technology

Ramkumar Manikka Kuppusamy

Accessibility Project Manager

  

Gayatri R Murthy

Senior Accessibility Tester

Embrace Inclusion: Register for Hyderabad’s GAAD 2024!

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