Earlier this year, EvoXLabs founder (and soon to be Comcast software engineer) Ather Sharif announced the launch of The Accessible World (TAW) conference, a local two-day event hoping to aggregate some best practices in accessibility.

Last week, Sharif welcomed attendees to the inaugural conference at the Free Library, explaining that the motive for the event was to bring attention to a modern lack of universal design across disciplines. The conference itself was split up into a number of different tracks including technology, education and public policy.

“The most interesting part is the audience is still the same for each track,” Sharif said. “The idea behind all that is to bring people together under one roof” to share best practices and raise awareness across disciplines. 

Sharif’s welcome address was followed by a keynote from FCC Chief of Disability Rights Gregory Hlibok, who explained he “wasn’t born into an accessible world,” but was born into a “barrier-free” one.

Hlibok was born deaf. Access wasn’t a concern until new technologies were introduced, he said before reminiscing on caption-free television.

"I was born into an accessible world. In my family there were no communication barriers" Great reminder that barriers are created. #taw16

— Whitney Quesenbery (@whitneyq) April 28, 2016

Captioning helps everyone. In a recent study children who watched TV w/ captions have a better understanding of the English language. #TAW16

— Amber DeRosa (@AJDeRosa) April 28, 2016

"Accessibility is not a feature…accessibility is a requirement."-@AustinSeraphin at #TAW16.

PREACH.

— Sarah Blahovec (@Sblahov) April 28, 2016

Do phone numbers need to be required on forms? Not good for deaf. Have other options. @audio_a11y #TAW16 #a11y

— Ellen King (@ellenking) April 28, 2016

Usability and accessibility are like twins separated at birth. #TAW16 @whitneyq

— Amber DeRosa (@AJDeRosa) April 28, 2016

“Accessiblity can break down anywhere,” said entrepreneur and accessible design practitioner Kel Smith. “I think I know how to fix it: Don’t treat accessibility as an afterthought. Think of accessibility as an opportunity — an opportunity to advance your space.” 

Smith recalled seeing a prototype of a Higi — a machine that measures health vitals in grocery stores — in Austin, Texas.

“Some places had a special room for it. It was workable,” he said. “There were other places that weren’t so workable,” pointing to an image on a slide of a Higi in a tight grocery store corner, blocked off by a number of carts. 

Disability is not a medical problem, it's a social problem in that the world is built w/o thinking about every body. #artreach #a11y #TAW16

— Ellen King (@ellenking) April 29, 2016

The major takeaway from the inaugural Accessible World conference? There’s a lot of work to be done in advocating, educating and advancing toward universal accessible design.

I ordered a flatbread. The waitress delivered it, but didn’t tell me, so it got cold. An ironic end to #TAW16. Great party though!

— Austin Seraphin (@AustinSeraphin) April 30, 2016

And it’s a fight we should all have an inherent interest in.

The disability community is the only minority group that one can join in an instant. It only takes on accident. #TAW16 #a11y

— Amber DeRosa (@AJDeRosa) April 29, 2016