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Access for All

Speaker spotlights

In this section, you can meet some of the event speakers and a little more information about their talks.

Professor. Harold Thimbleby PhD FRCPE HonFRSA HonFRCP FGC

2 fixes to the 1/2 thinking that leads to accessibility problems

Last year, Harold Thimbleby developed two invisible disabilities. He has been discovering how society creates even more disabilities by only doing half a job of providing accessible facilities.

Half thinking is a problem affecting both physical and digital systems.

A very simple example is providing handrails for half a staircase. Thinking "We've provided handrails" hasn't solved the accessibility problem!

My electric car is a digital example. I bought it because it has single pedal drive (it can be driven just using the accelerator). But for some reason this accessible feature is disabled when reversing. Thinking "We've provided single pedal drive" is half thinking, and in fact (as we'll explain in the talk) has made the car harder and more dangerous to drive.

This talk will suggest two helpful fixes: digital stories to help listen to users (and to help users be clearer), and design review to spot half thinking so it can be sorted out.

Photograph of Professor Harold Thimbleby smiling while leaning on a desk

Gemma Helyer

You’re probably using accessibility features without realising it

Accessibility is often talked about as something we do for disabled people, but accessible design benefits all of us. Drawing on my own experiences with dyslexia and hearing loss, I’ll look at the everyday barriers people face, the accessibility features many of us use without even realising it, and why designing for different needs often creates better experiences for everyone.

Ellie Challis

Ellie Challis is a Paralympics swimmer, winning gold in the 2024 Paralympics.

Ellie was the youngest member of ParalympicsGB in Tokyo where she won a silver medal in the S3 50m backstroke at the age of 17. Three years later at Paris 2024 she converted silver to gold.

Gavin Evans

Co founder and Director within the Digital Accessibility Centre, responsible for training and consultancy relating to Web and Mobile accessibility, helping organisations achieve Digital Inclusion.

As a former invited expert at the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group he has a great deal of experience co-ordinating and managing Accessibility audits for organisations over the last 20 years, ensuring that teams are considering users of all abilities when designing and developing digital experiences.

Gavin has a lot of knowledge in facilitating usability testing and disabled user-led research for organisations. Especially when assessing platforms against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Photo of Gavin Evans
Photograph of Mike Taylor

Mike Taylor

Mike has been using screen reading software for over 20 years.

Mike tests websites and applications using different screen readers on various platforms as required, and posts content to the DAC social media feeds and website on many topics around accessibility.

Mike delivers many presentations and training on behalf of DAC and brings a real life experience to the training he delivers. Mike has been blind since birth, and prior to working in accessibility he completed a post graduate teacher training course at Swansea Metropolitan University.

Heather Reeve

Owner of Reeve Accessibility Solutions, Heather is an experienced website auditor who actively promotes equal access to information for disabled people and the removal of digital barriers.

Aled Davies

Aled Davies is the Head Coach of Swim Conwy. He is a GB performance coach and has notably coached many champion para-athletes, including Paralympic gold medalist Ellie Challis.

Liz Johnson

Liz is a mentor, corporate speaker, athlete, sports commentator and pundit. As the Managing Director and Co-Founder of The Ability People (TAP), she works with organisations to understand and improve their culture and processes, removing barriers that prevent disabled people from being equal in the workplace. Their work helps transform professional opportunities for disabled people while enabling organisations to build more inclusive, effective and authentic brands.

Alex Rosser

Alex Rosser represented Team Wales as a parasport swimmer at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia.

The pinnacle of Alex Rosser’s career to date is finishing fourth at the World Para Swimming Series final in Berlin.

Martyn Jones JP DL

Martyn is a Commissioner and Wales Committee Interim Chair at the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Martyn was the Education, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at South Wales Police and former CEO at Learning Disability Wales and Diverse Cymru. He is Interim Chair of the Wales Committee and served on the Human Rights Commissioner Working Group and Disability Advisory Committee.

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