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David Sabaté is the founder and CEO of TOTHOMweb, with more than 15 years of experience in digital accessibility.
As an Accessibility Analyst, my day-to-day focus is on accessibility and usability, project management and metrics, development, and documentation. However, the most significant contributions I’ve made to my greater organization have always been in the form of generalizing the problems we face and questioning the status quo in such a way that the problems can be better understood and tackled more efficiently. I’m naturally drawn to thinking through simplifying problems, who or what else is impacted, and which solutions will best address the highest number of issues. But having this approach also leads me down strange, new roads and causes me to ask really big questions, like, “What is a PDF really?” “Are there any alternatives out there?” “How and why did we become so reliant on PDFs anyway?” “Are the available remediation tools even focusing on the right things?” and “If there were a perfect PDF remediation tool, what would the world need it to do?”
Pronouns: He/Him
Ed Summers is a blind software engineer and an accessibility specialist. He has a B.S. in Computer Science and professional experience as a software developer, engineering manager, and leader of accessibility programs within large technology companies. Ed’s personal mission is to enable people with disabilities to realize their full potential in the classroom and the 21st-century knowledge economy. He fulfills that mission as the Head of Accessibility at GitHub where he empowers people of all abilities to create and collaborate. He also serves on disability-related government and not-for-profit boards.
Watch Ed’s 2024 talk here: “Empowering People with Disabilities Using GitHub Copilot”
Watch Ed’s 2023 keynote talk here: “GitHub Accessibility: Bridging the Disability Divide through Code Collaboration”
Pronouns: She/her
Leading accessibility strategy and implementation across digital products and platforms from inclusive design through development practices in both remediation of existing and creation of new products; training teams on accessibility and their roles in successful implementation; auditing products and consulting cross-functional teams to create compliant products through strong relationships, communication, and collaboration.
Pronouns: She/Her
Emma Torres, User Researcher. Emma is passionate about building healthier communities through technology. Three years ago, Emma joined Peloton as a Research Coordinator and has since grown into a User Researcher who leads Row software initiatives. She currently focuses on improving the Member experience across Peloton’s hardware and software offerings, as well as making products more accessible for those with disabilities. Before Peloton, Emma graduated from Bowdoin College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
During her time at Bowdoin, Emma devised and launched Maine’s first TeleNeurology program in partnership with Maine Medical Center’s Neuroscience Institute. This program has been active for 5+ years, enabling patients in rural Maine to have access to high-quality medical care from the comfort of their homes. Emma is a Maine native who enjoys spending time with her family and exploring the islands in Casco Bay. Now that she lives in Brooklyn, Emma’s favorite weekend activity is going for a long run in Prospect Park and swinging by the local farmers’ market for coffee and muffins with her sister.
Read more about Emma’s talk here:”The Power of User Research to Increase Fitness Accessibility“
Dad first. UX designer second. Dad third. Aspiring to impact positive change through accessible design, mentorship, my inability to perform a cartwheel, and my amateur woodworking. Dad.
Evelyn Wightman worked as a developer and quality engineer before originating the Accessibility Specialist job track at Cvent. She’s been working on digital accessibility for five years, pushing to standardize and expand the accessibility practices in Cvent’s software development lifecycle. She also co-launched and co-leads an employee resource group focusing on disability.
Pronouns: She/Her
Glenda Sims is the Chief Information Accessibility Officer at Deque, where she shares her expertise and passion for the open web with government organizations, educational institutions, and companies ranging in size from small businesses to enterprises. Glenda is an adviser and co-founder of AIR-University (Accessibility Internet Rally) and AccessU. She serves as an accessibility consultant, judge, and trainer for Knowbility, an organization whose mission is to support the independence of people with disabilities by promoting the availability of barrier-free IT. In 2010, Glenda co-authored the book InterACT with Web Standards: A holistic approach to Web Design.
Read more about Glenda’s talk here: “Future of accessibility guidelines” and “Get It Right the 1st Time: Stop 80%+ of A11Y Bugs During Development”
Pronouns: He/him
After nearly two decades as a designer, developer, and content strategist for public education websites, Greg has been a UX Producer at Red Hat since 2022.
Preferred Pronouns: She/Her
The first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben Girma, is a human rights lawyer advancing disability justice. President Obama named her a White House Champion of Change. She received the Helen Keller Achievement Award, a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and TIME100 Talks. President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Chancellor Angela Merkel have all honored Haben. Haben believes disability is an opportunity for innovation, and she teaches organizations the importance of choosing inclusion. The New York Times, Oprah Magazine, and TODAY Show featured her memoir, Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law.
Haben was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she currently lives. Her memoir takes readers on adventures around the world, including her parents’ homes in Eritrea and Ethiopia, building a school under the scorching Saharan sun, training with a guide dog in New Jersey, climbing an iceberg in Alaska, fighting for blind readers at a courthouse in Vermont, and talking with President Obama at the White House. Warm, funny, thoughtful, and uplifting, this captivating book is a testament to Haben’s determination to resist isolation and find the keys to connection.
The hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook (narrated by Haben herself) are available at most bookstores. Learn more on the book page.
Watch Haben’s 2021 keynote: “Difference Drives Innovation & Disability Inclusion Benefits All of Us“
Ire Aderinokun is an investor, entrepreneur, and software engineer with a decade of experience building and backing technology ventures in frontier markets.
As an invited Google Expert in Web Technologies specialising in the core user interface technologies of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Ire has authored widely-read technical content and spoken at dozens of conferences around the world. She co-founded Helicarrier, a Y Combinator-backed blockchain company for Africa that built some of the continent’s earliest crypto-fintech products, and is passionate about how technology can support global financial inclusion.
Jan Maarten (he/him) is a designer and accessibility specialist living on unceded Duwamish lands. He has worn many hats, from full-stack design and branding to strategy and IT operations. He is currently a Senior Accessibility Designer at GitHub, helping product teams shift left and improving design infrastructure.
Jatin brings extensive expertise in mobile apps, web, and digital accessibility across diverse sectors, including government, education, healthcare, and Fortune 50 companies. As a subject matter expert, he integrates accessibility throughout the entire technology lifecycle—from requirements and design through development, implementation, and testing.
Specializing in WCAG 2.x, Section 508, AODA, EN 301 549, and the EU Web Accessibility Directive, Jatin leads accessibility initiatives spanning native and hybrid mobile apps (iOS and Android), web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, WAI-ARIA), PDF and document accessibility, and corporate training programs.
An active contributor to W3C groups and speaker at major accessibility conferences, including CSUN, AccessU, and DevAcc.
Pronouns: She/Her
Jen has worked as a web developer for over a decade, specializing in digital accessibility and inclusive design. As a founding member of the Product Accessibility team at Zendesk, she fills a role that meaningfully combines engineering, coaching, and advocacy to help ensure Zendesk’s software is easy to use, especially for people who rely on assistive technology. In 2021, she was recognized as one of 14 Power Women in Code by the DCFemTech Awards.
Jeremy Rivera is a Developer Advocate for Deque Systems Inc. He is a full-stack MERN Developer and a University of South Florida alum. Jeremy transitioned to developer relations to bridge the gap between software and developers needing a diverse array of tools. He is a general technologist and evangelist of open-source and cloud-based tools, passionate about helping developers make the web a more inclusive environment.
Jesse Beach’s technology career started in linguistic research, shifted to UX design and then landed solidly in user interface development. At Meta she channels her energies into building tools and components that support accessible interface development within the Facebook Design System group. She believes that all humans should have access to information and services, whatever their abilities or circumstances.
Pronouns: She/they
Kai Wong (she/they), believes in the transformative power of accessible technology for a better world. At Teladoc Health, the global leader in health and whole-person care, Kai is a Principal of Digital Accessibility, founder of Accessibility Champions for Change, and serves on the leadership board for their disability-focused Business Resource Group (BRG). They are an inventor of a US patent pending, a recipient of the 2021 DC FemTech Award, and hold certifications in accessibility, health education, and quality assurance. Dubbed as a presenter who could make stale bread interesting, Kai’s strategy for advancing accessibility is simple: make it fun and inspire action.
Pronouns: He/him
Kyle Shachmut is the Senior Director of Digital Accessibility at Harvard University, providing strategic direction and service delivery leadership to digital accessibility efforts across Harvard’s schools. He works at the intersections of information technology, disability inclusion, and academic administration. He led the creation of Harvard’s Digital Accessibility Services team and guides governance and implementation of the university’s related policies. Previously, a major focus area included a universal design approach integrating accessibility into online learning experiences through HarvardX—Harvard’s initiative that creates massive open online courses (MOOCs) available on edX.
Kyle serves as co-chair of the EDUCAUSE IT Accessibility Community Group and part of its Steering Committee. He has advocated for greater accessibility in community and professional associations for over a decade, advising local, state, and federal policymakers. Kyle frequently consults, speaks, and writes about matters related to digital accessibility, public policy, technology in education, higher education, universal design, and more.
Pronouns: She/Her
Lainey is a disability rights lawyer and an author. For twenty-five years she has focused on technology and information access issues for blind people. Lainey worked on the first legal agreements in the country about Talking ATMs and web access. Instead of filing lawsuits, Lainey uses Structured Negotiation. It is a strategy that focuses on problem-solving. With this method, she brings together disabled people, businesses and governments. Together, they work to make tech available to everyone. Lainey is a public speaker who has been honored for her work.
She is the author of “Structured Negotiation, a Winning Alternative to Lawsuits,” available in digital and print formats and in Bookshare. First published in 2016, the second edition, with new content including a foreword by Haben Girma, was published in October, 2021.
Watch Lainey’s axe-con 2025 talk: “The Digital Accessibility Legal Landscape“
Pronouns: She/her
Lola is a multidisciplinary artist and web standards technologist. As an elected co-chair of the W3C Technical Architecture Group and founder of Lola’s Lab, she leads strategic initiatives across, accessibility, interoperability, and developer education. Lola builds bridges between browsers, specs, and web development through leadership, writing, and engaging developer experiences.
Mali is the founder of HSBC’s Digital Accessibility programme. He currently occupies the position of Group Head of Digital Experience and Accessibility for HSBC and oversees HSBC’s digital offering globally. He is passionately committed to diversity inclusion and creating an accessible environment for colleagues and customers with disabilities. He was previously the Chief Digital Governance, Risk and Control Officer for Corporate and Institutional Digital. In 2023, Mali was recognised in the King’s New Years Honours and awarded a MBE.
Pronouns: He/him
Mark Stimson is a leader in digital accessibility with a passion in making healthcare and wellness fully inclusive using technology. With 25 years of digital accessibility experience and a doctorate in cognitive psychology, Mark strives to reduce health disparities for persons with disabilities using digital innovation.
Mark has been leading the digital accessibility effort at Kaiser Permanente for 14 years and is currently the Director for the Digital Accessibility Program. His team coordinates the accessibility effort between designers, developers, testers, procurement, legal, and ADA coordinators. Mark’s philosophy of leadership is to make it easy to do the right thing and make accessibility a part of everyone’s role through education, policy, and process.
Mark lives in San Mateo, California, with his wife, son, and two cats, where he enjoys swimming, bicycling, listening to alternative music, and going for long walks.
Pronouns: He/Him
Matthew Luken is SVP, Global Programs & Regulatory Affairs; European Partnerships at Deque, consulting with companies of all sizes, markets, and industries to grow their digital accessibility programs. Matthew also provides thought leadership to advance the profession and practice of digital accessibility and mature and maximize operations, processes, and outcomes.
Matt King is a groundbreaking engineer and a champion for software accessibility. As the first blind engineer at Facebook (now Meta), he works to ensure that technology is designed for everyone, including people with disabilities.
Pronouns: She/Her
Megan Pletzer has a diverse and extensive work experience in the field of digital experience and product management. Megan currently works at Deque Systems, Inc as a Senior Product Manager, Mobile. Prior to this role, Megan worked at UW Credit Union for several years, where they held various positions including Director of Digital Experience, Digital Product & Experience Manager, Lead UI Designer & Front-End Developer, and Full-Stack Web Developer & Designer. Megan was responsible for setting and executing digital product strategy, leading cross-functional teams, and designing and developing member-facing apps, online banking platforms, and websites. Megan also worked at Bethesda Lutheran Communities as a Full-Stack Web Developer & Designer.
Megan Pletzer attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 1998 to 2002. During this time, they pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree with a specialization in Graphic Design.
Read more about Megan’s talk here: “The Next Generation of Automated Accessibility Testing for Mobile Apps“
Pronouns: He/him
Pronouns: She/Her
Nitya Baddam is an iOS Engineer at Deque Systems, passionate about making technology usable for everyone. As part of her work at Deque, she develops axe DevTools Mobile, an accessibility testing framework for iOS apps. Nitya has also authored a course for Deque University on building accessible experiences in native iOS apps, delivered talks on mobile accessibility, and is excited to continue sharing her practical insights with the developer community. In her spare time, she enjoys sewing, knitting, and pottery making!
Pronouns: She/her
Noa Nitzan is an accessibility expert at Wix, a certified accessibility consultant, and a UX designer. She is an occupational therapist by profession, with expertise in assistive technology and inclusive design. She has extensive experience working directly with people with disabilities, alongside work in the industry developing products that promote accessibility and inclusion. Throughout her career, Noa has focused on connecting inclusive design, UX, and innovation, bridging human needs, design, and technology to create better experiences for everyone.
Pronouns: He/Him
My name is Noé Barrell, the Machine Learning Engineer here at Deque Systems. For more than three years, I have been working on developing machine learning methods that help us further accessibility testing through our Intelligent Guided Tests.
Watch Noé ‘s axe-con 2024 talk here: AI Systems for Accessibility.
Pronouns: He/Him
Otto is an attorney with Winston Taylor. His primary expertise is technology – everything from technology transactions, negotiations and litigation to advising on new technologies and digitalisation, but also data protection and commercial use of personal data. Since the implementation of the European Accessibility Act, Otto has been actively promoting digital accessibility, speaking on the subject in various presentations, webinars, and – together with Deque – at last year’s WebSummit in Lisbon.
Pronouns: She/her
Driving the implementation of inclusive design and digital accessibility across the IKEA value chain. Leading strategies that ensure digital products are usable and meaningful for everyone, partnering with teams to embed accessibility from early ideation through to delivery.
As an openly neurodiverse leader, she brings lived experience that fuels empathy, authenticity, and innovation. She champions transparency and psychological safety as the foundation for inclusive cultures and believes that truly accessible products begin with inclusive teams.
Pawel is an Accessibility Lead Designer at Atlassian with over 20 years of design experience, focusing on integrating accessible design practices across their global design teams. In his free time, he’s a Zumba instructor, bringing energy and fun to his classes!
Peter leads the Standards and Practice team within the Thomson Reuters accessibility program. He has nearly 20 years of experience in technology in the public and private sectors, from technology to ADA compliance, consulting, and digital accessibility roles. He is a court-recognized expert witness, having worked on national-level disability rights cases. As a disabled professional, he firmly believes in the value of digital access for all.
Rana is a pioneer in Artificial Intelligence, scientist and entrepreneur turned AI investor, founder and CEO with a track record of innovation and investing in disruptive AI-first startups. Rana is co-founder and General Partner at Blue Tulip Ventures, an early-stage venture firm that invests in startups building Human-Centric AI – AI that is good for people, good for the planet and is ethical. In 2022, Rana co-founded AI Operators Fund, an early-stage fund and invested in 40 AI-first companies. Rana is also a venture partner at BOLD Capital Partners (Peter Diamandis’ fund) as well as an angel investor. As a well-recognized expert in AI, Rana has exclusive access to disruptive AI startups and has decades of AI experience to support these startups in their growth and ability to drive significant returns. Prior to Blue Tulip Ventures, Rana was a founder and CEO of MIT spin-out Affectiva, which she sold in 2021. Rana is also an executive fellow at the Harvard Business School and co-chair of the Fortune Brainstorm AI conferences. Her best-selling memoir, “Girl Decoded: A Scientist’s Quest to Reclaim Our Humanity by Bringing Emotional Intelligence to Technology,” was published by Penguin Random House in 2020. Rana has been recognized on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list, Forbes’ Top 50 Women in Tech, and Boston Globe’s Top 50 Tech Power Players. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and a Post Doctorate from MIT.
Pronouns: He/him
Ryan is Director of CX/UX Advisory Services at Wolters Kluwer, where he focuses on scaling accessibility and design system practices across complex product organizations. His work centers on creating shared interaction models, strengthening reusable UI foundations, and supporting cross-discipline collaboration between business, engineering, and user experience design. Drawing on experience in interaction design and creating design systems, his work supports teams in integrating accessibility testing earlier in the product development process through practical guidance, prototyping, and community learning. He works to make accessibility a routine part of how products are designed and built.
Dr. Sambhavi Chandrashekar is Global Accessibility Lead at D2L, where she drives disability inclusion as a business growth strategy—enabling market expansion, regulatory compliance, and revenue acceleration for education partners worldwide. A former faculty member at the University of Toronto and other Canadian universities with 10+ years in inclusive design teaching and graduate research supervision, she now bridges academic rigour with executive impact through her Shift-up Accessibility framework, shaping how global institutions turn accessibility into competitive advantage.
Sam Smith leads accessibility at Coinbase. Focused on user first accessibility with an emphasis on usability. Sam has been creating and building accessibility programs for 8+ years. Located in San Francisco, CA Sam enjoys being outside, swimming, and cooking.
Stefan joined Adobe in 2020 and became part of the Spectrum team in 2023, where he champions accessibility and serves as a leading voice for inclusive design. He brings deep expertise in accessibility, contributing to the development of WCAG 3.0 and working closely with Adobe’s Product Equity team. Passionate about supporting people with neurological and developmental disabilities, Stefan strives to ensure Spectrum 2 embraces individuality, flexing and adapting to each person’s unique needs and preferences. Outside of design systems, he enjoys caring for his son, playing Crusader Kings III, and taking long walks in the park with his dog.
With over 25 years of experience helping organizations and companies achieve their accessibility goals, Stephen brings deep expertise and personal passion to his work. Throughout his career in IT consulting, he led accessibility programs that focused on making technology more inclusive, working closely with individuals who are Blind, Deaf, or have physical disabilities. His first-hand experience with how People with Disabilities use the web has shaped his approach to accessibility as both a technical and human-centered practice.
Stephen joined Cvent about four years ago and now serves as Senior Manager for Accessibility. In this role, he is dedicated to ensuring that Cvent’s products are not only compliant but also truly usable and enjoyable for attendees with disabilities.
Accessibility is also deeply personal for Stephen. He has Tourette’s syndrome, his mother was an amputee, and he grew up with two cousins who used wheelchairs. These lived experiences fuel his lifelong commitment to building a more inclusive digital world.
Inés Abroug (ENG) is an Associate at PwC France & Maghreb, where she leads CSR projects specialized in environmental issues. She oversees carbon footprint reduction trajectories, the structuring of ESG reporting (CSRD), and preparation for non-financial certifications and evaluations (ISO 14001, CDP, EcoVadis). As a digital accessibility focal point, she also contributes to team onboarding through training, awareness, and innovation initiatives in the service of a more responsible and inclusive digital landscape.
Inès Abroug (FR) est Associate chez PwC France & Maghreb, où elle pilote des projets RSE spécialisés sur les enjeux environnementaux. Elle assure le suivi des trajectoires de réduction de l’empreinte carbone, la structuration des reportings ESG (CSRD) ainsi que la préparation aux certifications et évaluations extra-financières (ISO 14001, CDP, EcoVadis).
Référente accessibilité numérique, elle contribue également à l’embarquement des équipes via des actions de formation, de sensibilisation et d’innovation au service d’un numérique plus responsable et inclusif.
