Digital Accessibility at Harvard and Around the Globe: A Celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)

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Join Digital Accessibility Services (DAS) as we celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) with Jennison Asuncion, the co-creator of GAAD. The event will be live streamed, live captioned, and recorded. 

View a map and directions to Askwith Hall. Harvard ID required for in-person attendance. 

Persons with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations or who have questions about physical access may contact digitalaccessibility@harvard.edu.

Speakers

Jennison Asuncion, Co-founder, Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 

Jennison co-founded Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) in 2012 after randomly happening upon a blogpost by fellow co-founder Joe Devon in November, 2011. On the occasion of GAAD's 10th anniversary in 2021, he co-founded the GAAD Foundation, whose mission is to disrupt the culture of technology and digital product development to include accessibility as a core requirement.

Jennison has been working in digital accessibility since 2006, beginning on RBC's IT Accessibility Team in Toronto. He was recruited to the Silicon Valley in 2013 to join LinkedIn, where he is Currently their Head of Accessibility Engineering Evangelism. In 2020, Business Insider named Jennison "1 of 30 power players helping new CEO Ryan Roslansky run LinkedIn." On the academic front, Jennison co-directs the adaptech Research Network out of Dawson College in Montreal, where he has been conducting and publishing research on technology use by Canadian postsecondary students with disabilities since 1997.

Alexis J. Stokes, Associate Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging 

Alexis serves as the Associate Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer in the Harvard Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, where she is charged with community engagement strategy and learning and development. Prior to this role, she served as the Assistant Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). While in this role, she led the administration of the School’s inaugural climate survey, spearheaded the development of a 5-year strategic plan, and welcomed the School’s inaugural cohort of post-baccalaureate scholars. Alexis serves on the executive committee for Harvard Women in Tech+Allies and is a member of the Harvard Administrative Innovation Group, University Accessibility Committee, and the Implementation Committee for Student Mental Health and Well-being. 

Kyle Shachmut, Director, Digital Accessibility Services (DAS)

Kyle has been advancing digital inclusion at Harvard University since 2015, providing strategic direction to digital accessibility efforts across central administration and the schools. One of the best parts of working on accessibility at Harvard is collaborating with amazingly talented colleagues and partnering to make sure that the teaching and research mission of the university are available to everyone, including people with disabilities. 

Before joining DAS upon its founding in summer 2019, Kyle worked on integrating accessibility into online learning experiences through a universal design approach at HarvardX and later on digital access from within University Disability Resources. He enjoys the intersection of innovative technology, digital inclusion, higher education policy, and related research. Beyond Harvard, he finds it valuable to learn from and share with others who undertake similar work and enjoy facilitating such conversations as Co-chair of the EDUCAUSE IT Accessibility Community Group.