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Registration: DDN Feb_2022
Captioning will be provided via Zoom online platform. Please contact Tricia Downing—tricia@triciadowning.com for additional accommodations.
This session is for you if—
The focus of the February 24th event will be on understanding digital accessibility best practices and how you can create a more user-friendly environment for people with disabilities. Join us for a panel discussion and opportunity for open dialogue. Bring your questions for a lively discussion in a friendly and supportive environment. You will leave not only with a better understanding of digital accessibility, but a plethora of resources to assist you in your accessibility efforts.
Since sustaining a paralyzing spinal cord injury in 2000, Tricia has become passionate about elevating the quality of life for individuals with disabilities within the Denver Community. In the past ten years, she founded and directed a sports and fitness camp for female wheelchair users, has mentored newly injured patients through Craig Hospital and paved the way as a pioneer in the sport of paratriathlon, becoming the first female wheelchair racer to complete an Iron distance triathlon. She is a 2016 Paralympian in the sport of shooting. Tricia has master’s degrees in both Sport Management (Eastern Illinois) and Disability Studies (Regis University). Additionally, she published her memoir in 2010 and in 2018 published her first fiction novel, starring a main character who has a disability. Tricia hopes to see more positive portrayals of individuals with disabilities in books, on TV, and on the big screen. (Image description: Headshot of a biracial woman with dark hair pulled back into a short curly ponytail. She is wearing a pink shirt, silver pendant necklace and is smiling)
Lori Samuels is the Senior Director of Accessibility at NBCUniversal. She leads strategic accessibility programs to institute best practices in inclusive design, provide training for software development teams, drive cultural maturity in disability inclusion, and fortify executive sponsorship. Lori has had career roles in Software Engineering, Engineering Management, Technical Program Management and Accessibility Consulting – mostly for consumer and educational markets. Her passion for making technology work for people of all abilities started in 1993 when she was Director of Engineering at Broderbund Software. She went on to start Intuit’s enterprise accessibility program and deliver the first-ever accessible version of QuickBooks. Prior to joining NBC, Lori led accessibility programs and initiatives at Microsoft, impacting products such as Bing, Cortana, Visual Studio, Microsoft Store, Azure, and Dynamics. (Image description: Head shot of a white woman with shoulder-length blond hair, glasses. She is wearing a navy blue t-shirt.)
Clark Rachfal is the Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs for the American Council of the Blind (ACB). In this role, he leads ACB’s legislative and regulatory agendas, as well as member-driven and individual advocacy efforts, to further the organization’s mission of security, independence, equality and opportunity for all people who are blind and experiencing vision loss. Clark embraces the ACB core values of integrity and honesty, respect, collaboration, flexibility, and initiative in all that he does to support the necessary changes required for successful interventions of equality. He represents ACB on various technology and communications accessibility boards as well as the Federal Communications Commission’s Disability Advisory Committee and Consumer Advisory Committee. Prior to joining ACB, Clark served in public policy positions for National Industries for the Blind, and Verizon Communications, Inc. In addition to his policy background, Clark is a Paralympian and World Champion in the sport of tandem cycling. (Image description: Photo of a white man with short, medium brown hair. He is smiling and in front of a black background. He is wearing a white button down shirt with the initials ACB on it.)
Nora Yim Stern is an educator, advocate, coach, and life-long learner. The daughter of Cambodian refugees, Nora was drawn to social justice early in life; listening, learning from, and raising the voices of those from lost generations and silenced communities. Nora’s professional career started in education, where she had the opportunity to work with diverse student populations and staff. As an educator, Nora advocated for representational and accessible curricula for her students. She has worn many hats in her career, including that of teacher, education technology consultant, accessible course designer, assistive technology professional, and digital accessibility engineer in non-profit, k-12/higher education, and healthcare industries. While her mission statement has evolved overtime, the core of her purpose stays the same: Nora is passionate about making education and information engaging and accessible for all. (Image Description: Headshot of an Asian woman with medium length, dark hair, and brown and black glasses. She is smiling and wears a white and yellow striped shirt and a gray jacket.)
Jennifer Maxwell works as the Digital Accessibility Coordinator at the Community College of Denver. Jennifer has a strong passion for improving the lives of people with disabilities, through technology, because she is a legally blind wheelchair user. Both in her work and personal life, Jennifer enjoys being an innovator to find solutions to both technological and physical accessibility barriers. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys online gaming, reading and adaptive sports. Jennifer loves the climate of Colorado, where she can handcycle in the summer and ski in the winter. She served as Ms. Wheelchair Colorado in 2018. (Image description: Headshot of a white woman with chin-length brown hair. She is smiling and wearing a purple and black dress, white cardigan and a white bead necklace)
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