A11y North | Hello.. Newcastle!

For the first time since its inception in 2024, A11y North is heading even further north for an evening of digital accessibility talks and networking.

We're delighted to be joined by Rob Lavender (Senior Technology Delivery Lead, Opencast), whose talk titled "Radical Honesty: A Non-Expert’s Guide to Fixing What’s Broken" will set the scene for the evening.

In this refreshingly honest talk, Rob ditches the jargon to focus on the power of being a 'useful amateur.' He’ll show you why 'good enough' is often the most radical act of inclusion, how to use your voice to call out what’s not working, and why the best way to move the needle is through simple, gritty collaboration. Rob has 11-years experience developing frontend digital services for UK Government departments, advocating for an accessibility first mindset.

We'll also be joined by Catherine McGowan from the NHS Business Services Authority, who will be talking about the accessibility challenges of documents.

Catherine will cover how to fix some of the most common accessibility errors in both Word and PDFs, as well as discussing why fixing the source document and saving correctly can make the PDF remediation process easier.

Agenda:
6:00 - Introduction
6:15 - Radical Honesty: A Non-Expert’s Guide to Fixing What’s Broken
7:00 - Pizza break
7:15 - Common document accessibility issues and fixes
8:00 - Wrap up

Accessibility:
Please let us know if you have any accessibility or dietary requirements. You can do so by messaging A11y North through this page, emailing access@a11ynorth.com or speaking to any of the crew on the night.

Logistics:
Exact Location via what3words: ///device.normal.cheese
Free parking is available, but attendees must enter their car registration into the touchscreen at the front desk.