Axe Awards at axe-con 2024
The theme of axe-con is building accessible experiences. The conference’s mission is not just focused on bringing together the accessibility community and providing free content but on highlighting the organizations that are leaders in the field.
2024 is the fourth annual axe Awards, named after a well-known Deque open-source project called axe-core. We are proud to announce this year’s winners of the axe awards below so they are recognized for their outstanding work in accessibility. Please join us and the rest of the accessibility community in celebrating their efforts and advancements.
HSBC UK – Accessibility Culture Award
The success of an accessibility program hinges on creating an inclusive culture of accessibility at the organization. This year, we’re recognizing the prominent place that accessibility holds at HSBC UK with the Accessibility Culture Award. Their response is as follows:
We are humbled to be recognised for such a prestigious award and this recognition is a testament to the passion and determination within HSBC to be an organization for everyone irrespective of who they are.
HSBC is on a journey to becoming the world’s most digitally accessible bank. We want to be the bank of choice for disabled and neurodiverse customers and the employer of choice for disabled and neurodiverse staff. We want to make a difference in the communities we are part of and make the world more inclusive for everyone. We are excited about a number of initiatives that we have recently launched such as the Accessibility Hub being made publicly available, an award-winning free online learning platform, as well as our Train 1000 initiative to which over 100 companies globally have now signed up and our apprenticeship scheme specifically for disabled and neurodiverse candidates. At HSBC, we are proud of our progress but recognise we have more to do.
As an organization a culture of inclusion is business as usual for us and we are determined to use our international network, connectivity and brand to leave the world a better place than we found it.
GitHub – Accessibility at Scale Award
Deque is proud to award the 2024 Accessibility at Scale Award to GitHub. GitHub is the global home for all developers where over 100 million people, including developers from 90 of the Fortune 100 companies, build amazing things together across 420+ million repositories. Because of this, GitHub is in a unique position to accelerate accessibility across the technology industry.
GitHub empowers people with disabilities to develop software and contribute to technologies that drive human progress. From site-wide color contrast improvements for the light and dark themes on github.com and keyboard support for the new global navigation feature to screen reader support for the new code search feature, GitHub consistently removes barriers that may block disabled developers.
Recognizing that accessibility is not the only means of inclusion, GitHub also amplifies the voices of disabled developers by publishing the Coding Accessibility video series on their accessibility YouTube playlist and articles that feature developers with disabilities on the ReadMe Project.
Finally, GitHub is redefining the discipline of software development by integrating AI across their platform and the most popular IDEs where developers work. We applaud GitHub for incorporating accessibility into its AI products from the beginning while helping all developers leverage AI to improve accessibility.
“At GitHub, we believe the best way to improve accessibility of technology is to empower people with disabilities to help build it.” – Ed Summers, Head of Accessibility at GitHub
Google – Longstanding Commitment to Accessibility Award
The Longstanding Commitment to Accessibility Award recognizes those organizations whose efforts in the field of accessibility have deep and long-standing roots. This year, the Longstanding Commitment to Accessibility Award goes to Google. Their response is as follows:
On behalf of our teams across Google, we want to express our deepest gratitude for awarding us the “Longstanding Commitment to Accessibility Award.” We are incredibly humbled and honored to receive this recognition.
Accessibility is a core principle and priority at Google, and this award is a wonderful testament to the dedication and passion of our teams across the company to build with and for the disability community. From engineers building inclusive products and features, to designers creating accessible experiences, to researchers pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and beyond, we are all committed to building a more accessible and equitable world.
“This award is not just a recognition of our past efforts; it serves as fuel that propels us forward. It motivates us to continue innovating and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the field of accessibility. We know that there is still work to be done, and we are committed to building a future where everyone can participate and thrive.” – Eve Andersson, Senior Director, Products for All
This award belongs not just to Google, but to the entire accessibility community – the advocates, developers, researchers, and users who continuously work to make technology more inclusive. We will continue to work diligently to make technology more accessible for everyone, including the disability community.
Jim Thatcher Lifetime Achievement Award
In addition to the axe awards, we were proud to announce the Jim Thatcher Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes an individual with an outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of accessibility. For those of you who don’t know, Jim Thatcher was one of the early pioneers of web accessibility on the team at IBM that created the very first screen reader.
This year’s Jim Thatcher award goes to Jennison Asuncion. Jennison Asuncion is the Head of Accessibility Engineering Evangelism at LinkedIn as well as the co-founder of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Asuncion has been working in the field of accessibility since 2006 and has championed major events in the industry such as the Accessibility Camp Toronto and the Accessibility Camp Bay Area. He is also Chair of the Board of Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Vice-Chair of the GAAD Foundation.
Business Insider named Asuncion one of 30 “power players and rising stars” who would help newly appointed LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky lead the company. Furthermore, Asuncion received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, which was awarded to those who made “significant contributions” to the country, and the 2018 Stephen Garff Marriott Award from the American Foundation for the Blind. He was also named to Diversability’s inaugural D-30 Disability Impact List in 2020.
Watch Jennison’s response to receiving the Jim Thatcher Lifetime Achievement Award, what inspires him, and a word of encouragement to the accessibility community.
In Summary
There’s no way to commemorate all of the momentous work that organizations around the world are doing in the field of digital accessibility. We hope that this year’s axe Awards showcase the positive momentum that continues to shape the future of the industry.
