# 2026 Accessibility Summit ![Accessibility Summit, Thursday June 4, 2026, DAS logo.](/sites/g/files/omnuum12446/files/styles/hwp_5_4__480x385/public/2026-02/a11ysummit-promo-2026_5x4_web-v1.1.png?itok=p8ZwFL3m) #### calendar\_today Date and Time **June 4, 2026** 09:00AM - 04:00PM EDT #### pin\_drop Location **Askwith Hall and Gutman Conference Center, Harvard Graduate School of Education** [Appian Way Cambridge, MA 02138 United States ]() Morning Session in Askwith Hall, Afternoon Session in Gutman Conference Center The fourth annual Accessibility Summit took place on June 4, 2026, and featured speakers from across Harvard as well as a keynote delivered by [Maria Town](https://www.aapd.com/maria-town/), President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. [Watch the recording of the morning session and view photos from the event](https://internal.accessibility.huit.harvard.edu/a11y-summit) (HarvardKey required) --- Join us for the 2026 Accessibility Summit, hosted by Digital Accessibility Services (DAS). This is an in-person event open to Harvard faculty and staff, and will provide opportunities for learning, connecting, and engaging with other accessibility advocates from around the university. We hope you'll join us! Space is limited, so please register soon! Reach out to [digitalaccessibility@harvard.edu](mailto:///digitalaccessibility@harvard.edu) with any questions. ## **Thursday, June 4, 2026** 9am-4pm - Lunch will be provided! Located at the [Harvard Graduate School of Education](https://www.gse.harvard.edu/about/get-to-campus): - Askwith Hall (located in Longfellow Hall): 13 Appian Way - Gutman Conference Center, 6 Appian Way ## **Agenda** - Morning: Program, keynote, and networking in Askwith Hall - Introductory Remarks: [**Meredith Weenick**](https://evp.harvard.edu/people/meredith-weenick), Executive Vice President, Harvard University - Keynote: [**Maria Town**](https://www.aapd.com/maria-town/), President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities - Panel Discussion featuring Harvard faculty and staff sharing experiences of living with disabilities - Lightning Talk: "How we talk about accessibility" - [**Kyle Shachmut**](/people/kyle-shachmut "Kyle Shachmut"), Senior Director, Digital Accessibility Services - Lunch - Afternoon: Breakout sessions in Gutman Conference Center - 4pm: Social reception to follow at the [Painted Burro](https://www.thepaintedburro.com/location/painted-burro-harvard-square/) in Harvard Square Digital Accessibility Services welcomes participants of all abilities. We will be providing ASL and live captions for the keynote and all main sessions, as well as accessible digital copies of materials. A low-sensory, neuroinclusive Quiet Space will be available. If you anticipate needing any sort of accommodation to participate fully in the Summit, please share information in the registration form about how we can best support your needs. ## Breakout Sessions Breakout Session Tracks: - **AI**: Artificial Intelligence and emerging tech - **AC**: Academic - **TR**: Testing and Remediation - **SL**: Strategy and Leadership ### AI: Assistive Technology, AI and Students expand\_more This session will provide an overview of the technologies Harvard offers students with disabilities, as well as some of the ways those technologies use artificial intelligence. Assistive tools like Otter.ai, SensusAccess, and Genio are highly effective at helping students overcome barriers in the classroom, and AI is expanding the capabilities of such tools. We’ll talk about these tools, including their uses and limitations, and conclude with a look to the future in assistive tech and AI. ### Presenter: **Tanya Washburn**, Assistive Technology Center ### TR: Accessibility Testing on a Budget: High-Impact Checks in 30 Minutes or Less expand\_more Not every project has the time or resources for a full accessibility review, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make meaningful improvements. This session focuses on a compact “30‑minute test” anyone can run: a set of high‑impact checks for keyboard access, headings, color contrast, forms, and media. Participants will see live examples and leave with a checklist they can apply immediately. ### Presenters: **Caesar Alam** and **Evan Tansil**, Digital Accessibility Services ### SL: Creating a VPAT for the AI Sandbox (and What Is a VPAT Anyway?) expand\_more LibreChat is a popular, open source AI application Harvard uses in its AI Sandbox and it is used by many other schools and universities. We partnered with the LibreChat development team to create an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) and support the adoption of LibreChat at other educational institutions. This session will go through the process of reviewing vendors, identifying and remediating accessibility issues, and reviewing the final ACR. We hope that this session will produce questions and conversations around everyone’s own thoughts, concerns, and challenges on the topics discussed (e.g. compliance, ACR/VPATs, or testing and remediation). ### Presenter: **Derek Jackson**, Digital Accessibility Services ### AC: A Practical Guide to Accessible Math expand\_more In this session, John Williams and Nicholas McNab will share a practical workflow for creating accessible math content from LaTeX using tools that are already available at Harvard, including Microsoft 365 and Canvas. They will demonstrate how to convert LaTeX files into accessible formats using a browser-based Pandoc workflow, highlight common accessibility pitfalls in STEM materials, and offer concrete strategies for improving the reading experience for students who use assistive technologies. The session will also touch on current limitations and emerging issues related to LaTeX and tagged PDF 2.0, helping participants understand both what’s possible today and where the ecosystem is still evolving. #### Presenters: **John Williams**, Digital Accessibility Services, and **Nicholas McNab**, Assistive Technology Center ### AI: What If Every Meeting Actually Worked for Everyone? A live demonstration of AI-supported inclusion in real-time events expand\_more Most events are designed for one way of thinking, and everyone else spends half their cognitive energy just keeping up. This session explores what changes when the room itself adapts: a live demonstration of conversational AI supporting diverse cognition, emotional regulation, and communication styles in real time. You won't just see it described. You'll experience it as it runs. ### Presenter: **Nicole Brennan**, Berkman Klein Center ### SL: Become an Accessibility Influencer: Practical tips for growing your advocacy, reach, and understanding expand\_more This session will give an overview of current work in accessibility, recent advancements (including AI), and the vital importance of having contributions from experts and non-experts alike. Participants will come away with clear, actionable steps they can take to grow their influence and motivate those around them to also want to get involved. ### Presenter: **Erich Manser**, Digital Accessibility Services ### AI: AI Sign Language: Why Human Interpreters Still Matter expand\_more This session examines how AI sign tools are framed in tech and accessibility conversations, what they can and cannot realistically offer Deaf signers, and how they intersect with equity, risk, and responsibility. I’ll also point to resources such as the Safe AI: Interpreting Solutions Evaluation Toolkit and similar frameworks to support more informed decisions in organizations, legal contexts, and IT development. ### Presenter: **Suany Casson**, Digital Accessibility Services ### AC: Everything You Might Want to Know about the Accessible Teaching at Harvard Project expand\_more The Accessible Teaching at Harvard (ATAH) Project seeks to compile resources for Harvard’s faculty and instructional staff to effectively facilitate disability access and inclusion in their classes. This session will focus on the stages of the project, and what to expect once completed. Anyone interested in learning more about accessibility in learning and teaching is welcome and encouraged to join. ### Presenters: **Kate Higgins**, University Disability Resources, and **Leora Simon**, Division of Continuing Education ### AI: Designing With, Not For: Inclusive Design through Lived Experience expand\_more This session explores the role of inclusive design in developing meaningful and effective products, especially within disability-focused design, emphasizing the importance of involving end users throughout the entire design process. We will discuss how grounding decisions in lived experience, rather than assumptions, leads to more impactful and widely adopted solutions. Using Sole 1 as a case study, we will walk through how continuous user engagement has shaped the development of a wearable mobility device for individuals with foot drop. The session will highlight practical approaches for integrating user feedback into design workflows, from early concepting through prototyping and validation. ### Presenters: **Bradley Wagman** and **Viktor Bokisch**, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) ### TR: Managing Advanced PDFs expand\_more Struggling with accessible PDFs? In this practical session, we'll look at common accessibility issues in PDFs and how to fix them. We'll explore adding footnotes, converting from InDesign, and when a PDF might be beyond standard remediation - needing a professional fix instead. ### Presenter: **Jamie Spear**, Digital Accessibility Services Save: [ Add to calendar calendar\_today ](https://accessibility.huit.harvard.edu/node/1578671/event-feed.ics) Copy link link