More disabled Persons on Accessibility Events
Have you ever noticed that non-disabled people dominate the field of digital accessibility? This is particularly the situation in Germany. But things are not going well in other countries either. This is particularly evident at events such as conferences on digital accessibility.
Inclusion and accessibility in the old-style way
Today it is no longer enough to say that you are committed to accessibility: it is also about giving disabled people the chance to speak as experts themselves. That does not happen when a discussion group consists entirely of non-disabled people. If there are hardly any of these disabled experts, then it is partly due to the structures that hardly give newcomers the chance to establish themselves. It is no coincidence that grey-haired people dominate the panels on accessibility today and the youngest person in the panel is 50. Even people who can credibly advocate for accessibility prevent disabled people from participating. There is a perfectly legitimate argument that these grey-haired people have a legitimate interest in self-marketing. But younger people also work in their agencies and colleagues who can represent the agency just as well. Their own ego is the problem.
Actually, everyone agrees that panels and other institutions should be diverse, but this does not seem to apply to inclusion and disability. Imagine a conference on gender issues without women, on migration issues without people with a migration background. That is a no-go. It only seems to be okay at accessibility events. There is also a strong cronyism in the scene: people recommend each other, although disabled people are rarely included in these networks and therefore not recommended.
Recent examples are the axe-con or the ID24.
I'm not concerned about non-disabled people saying something wrong, disabled people can also say nonsense. Having disabled people there is not a value in itself, but simply shows clearly that there are also disabled experts. It's not just them who are talked about. Of course, disabled people also talk about barriers very differently than people who only know about them from third hand. And finally, the presence of disabled people who can express themselves competently shows to some extent that inclusion and accessibility have been successful, otherwise they wouldn't be there. Of course, disabled people who say that this and that doesn't work are also important. But the picture becomes distorted when disabled people say what is not working and non-disabled people say how to fix it. This once again reinforces the idea of care.
I remember with horror a panel at Microsoft Germany in which several people had discussed accessibility. None of them had a disability and no real connection to digital accessibility. What kind of image does that paint? I had drawn the attention of my customer at the time to this problem internally, but Microsoft didn't really care. That was a few years ago, but I'm not sure whether they learned anything from it. Probably not. Events like this are more about name dropping - people or companies you know who therefore have a pull effect. They don't have to know anything about the topic; if in doubt, they have employees who write the speaking notes for them.
The events are also important because they give the speakers prestige. It is quite difficult for newbies to gain notoriety. So it makes sense for them to have the chance to appear at conferences as speakers.
By the way, I'm not saying that they do this consciously or that they are hostile to people with disabilities. They probably think of themselves as progressive and inclusive. But thinking of yourself as inclusive and being inclusive are two different things.
You have to demand your rights and fight for them. The goodwill of the accessibility seniors will not lead to an improvement.
For me personally, I have come to the conclusion that I will only act as an expert and no longer as a testimonial. Unfortunately, I can't do more than that.
What you should do
If you want to get involved in this campaign for more diversity at accessibility events, here are a few suggestions of what you can do:
- Make the organizer aware of the problem. They will probably talk their way out of it. But first of all, it is about raising awareness of the problem.
- Boycott the event if the organizers do not want to work inclusively and you do not absolutely have to attend the event.
- If you are the organizer: Make sure that people with disabilities are involved as experts. I think a quota of 30 percent experts with disabilities is realistic for Germany. A quota of 50 percent women is also a must these days and can be easily achieved.
- If you are a speaker at an event: Look for people with disabilities to whom you can give your place or with whom you can give a joint presentation. We urgently need more prominent experts with disabilities. This will only work if they can also gain notoriety through lectures. Make your participation dependent on the fact that people with disabilities can also participate as experts.