The upcoming 3rd Inclusive Africa Conference — happening at the Trademark Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya on May 25- 26. This will begins with the historic launch of the first-ever National ICT Accessibility Standard for products and services in Africa (KS 2952 Accessibility: ICT Products & Services).
It will then be followed by two days of high-level discussions led by over 30 accessibility champions from all over Africa and the world. The keynote and speaker faculty, include global leaders and high-tech innovators from Mastercard Foundation, Google, Meta, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and more.
“The Inclusive Africa Conference was launched by inABLE in 2020 to discuss the best way forward for digital accessibility in inclusive employment, education, ICT policies, financial services, digital innovations, and mobile assistive technology”,
explains inABLE Executive Director Irene Mbari-Kirika.
“This conference will be made accessible through live captions, sign language and translation in English and French and other assistive accommodations.”
Over 200 in-person delegates, from across the globe are anticipated, as well as thousands more remote attendees via a virtual-event to be live streamed, and in attendance at 20 African countries’ watch parties. Registration is required to attend.
Among the confirmed speakers are:
- Phil Cotton, Human Capital Development, Mastercard Foundation, Ghana
- Christopher Patnoe, EMEA lead for Accessibility and Disability Inclusion, Google, USA
- Mercy Ndegwa, Head of Policy, East & Horn of Africa Region, Meta
- Jenny Lay-Furrie, Chief Accessibility Officer, Microsoft, USA
- Bernard Chiira, Director, Innovate Now Assistive Tech Accelerator, Kenya
- Ambrose Murangira, Disability Inclusion Advisor, Light for the World, Uganda
- Karen Smit, Principal Specialist: Special Needs Products, Vodacom, South Africa
- Christopher Lee, VP & Managing Director, International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), USA
- Jennison Asuncion, Head of Accessibility Engineering, LinkedIn, USA
Haben Girma, an American disability rights lawyer of Eritrean descent is slated to give one of the keynote addresses. She is bringing her specially trained seeing-eye dog Milo to demonstrate this invaluable accessibility support. Haben is the first deaf blind person to graduate from Harvard Law School and is a respected advocate for equal opportunities for people with disabilities.
To learn more about the Inclusive Africa Conference agenda, 2022-speaker faculty, and to register go to https://www.inclusiveafrica.org/
