It’s safe to say that expectations have been running very high for axe-con 2025. After all, it’s the 5th anniversary of what has become the world’s largest digital accessibility conference!
We’re happy to say that today exceeded every hope we could have had. It’s one thing to imagine the community that’s going to come together for an event like this, but to experience it firsthand is almost overwhelming. It was beautiful. The global axe-con community just absolutely overflows with empathy, kindness, passion, expertise, and commitment.
And by the way, we do mean “global!”
A global community
One of the best things about the whole axe-con experience is watching the introductions come rolling in at the start of each session.
We had coast-to-coast attendees across the United States—New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, Washington, California, and more—as well as participants from Colombia, Slovenia, France, Germany, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Scotland, and countless other locales. There was even someone on a train in Finland! All told, we welcomed attendees from over 110 different countries around the world.
Alice Wong’s opening keynote
The opening keynote from Alice Wong set an incredible tone for the rest of the day. Here are just a few of the comments that people wrote in the chat:
“As a fellow disabled person it is so refreshing and emotional to hear the words I know to be true, to be told to others who have the power to make the world a better place for us.”
“This is next-level discourse on disability and accessibility.”
“This is the best opening keynote speaker ever.”
“These are very important, thoughtful, true, and honest words. Thank you Alice!! Your message inspires me to practice, via this work, to be the kind of human I want to be. Also the red lipstick is perfection.”
Alice covered so much ground—emotionally, socially, politically—that it’s almost impossible to summarize. Still, one attendee’s comment got to the heart of the matter:”‘ How can I advocate WITH you?” I love this.”
Axe-con presentations
Dr. Ashley Shew, Associate Professor at Virginia Tech University, gave an incredible presentation titled Cyborg Concerns & Disability Services. Not only did Dr. Shew deliver a brilliantly seamless segue from Alice Wong’s keynote (Alice refers to herself as a cyborg), but she was equally passionate and insightful on the need to center disabled people not just in present conversations, but in our vision of the future as well:
Vitaly Friedman, founder and editor-in-chief of Smashing Magazine, shared his unique perspective in a presentation titled Inclusive Design Patterns For 2025, during which he was able to connect the dots between the ethical and business use cases for digital accessibility:
“People with disabilities are not edge cases. We’re not just going to ignore them. No business can be successful without successful customers, and customers don’t fit into the buckets like that anymore.” – Vitaly Friedman, Founder, editor-in-chief, Smashing Magazine
On the subject of connecting dots, Suji Sreerama, presenting during Unlocking the Cloud for Everyone: Accessibility in Google Cloud, showed us that UX is a crucial part of accessibility …
“UX advisors embody the user experience. They help bridge the gap between product and engineering, focusing on resolving UX-related bugs. This ensures that our products are not only functional, but also provide an intuitive and accessible experience for all users.” – Suji Sreerama, Accessibility Analyst, Google
… while Nicola Richardson clarified the key role that personas can play:
“Personas help to bring clarity to what accessibility means, because it’s something that can often seem complex or quite abstracted. They also help to make the challenges faced by users with disabilities more relatable and more tangible.” – Nicola Richardson, Senior Accessibility Specialist, Elsevier
There’s simply no way to do full justice to all the great ideas that were shared today, but we’d definitely be remiss if we didn’t mention David Dylan Thomas, whose presentations are legendary for their ability to get people talking. His presentation today was reliably provocative: No, Seriously, F*ck Engagement: Building a More Human Web.
But while the title may seem like provocation for provocation’s sake, the presentation itself was full of powerful thoughts on everything from data privacy to personal branding to business ethics. David also introduced us all to a fantastic new term: Interdependent design.
If there was one topic that continued to come up through the day, it was artificial intelligence—the opportunities it represents, and the challenges it poses. We especially loved what Sarahelizabeth Baguhn, Research Specialist at the American Foundation for the Blind, had to say on this topic, during Current trends at the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Blindness and Low Vision:
As amazing as everything to this point had been, there was still something remarkable yet to come—a conversation between two individuals whose dedication to disability rights has shaped policies that positively impact millions of lives. We are, of course, talking about Senator Tammy Duckworth and Former Representative Tony Coelho!
Tammy Duckworth and Tony Coelho
What a blessing to have these two powerhouses together! Between them, they’ve amassed decades of advocacy and impact, and they’re still on the front lines today, fighting for the human rights of people with disabilities.
It’s a wrap!
After Tammy and Tony’s conversation concluded, Glenda Sims, Deque’s Chief Accessibility Officer, closed out the day’s events with a lovely summary of what we all experienced:
“We began this morning with Alice Wong, who reminded us that accessibility is an act of love—not a burden. That “act” is the root word of “action.” And that true progress comes from working with the disability community, not for it.
Now we’ve closed this day with an insightful conversation between Senator Duckworth and Representative Tony Coelho—two leaders who have spent their lives making change happen—through advocacy, policy, and sheer determination.
If today has made one thing clear, it’s this: progress doesn’t just happen—we make it happen.
It happens when we create new laws. When we write accessible code. When we start crucial conversations. Change happens when we make the choice, every single day, to break down barriers and build a more inclusive world.
Most importantly, change happens because of you.
You are part of this movement. Your voice, your work, your advocacy—it all matters.”
If you were with us live, you know what happened next. We won’t spoil it for anyone who plans to watch on-demand. But it was delightful, and it had something to do with the color pink!
Looking ahead
As amazing as today was, it was literally only the beginning. Here are just some of the presentations you can look forward to on Wednesday, starting with our fantastic keynote:
The European Accessibility Act (EAA): Why it’s here and how you can prepare for it, with Inmaculada Placencia Porrero (Senior Expert on Disability, The European Commission) and Alejandro Moledo (Deputy Director, European Disability Forum).
Other sessions include:
What it really takes: Building an Accessibility-first Corporate Culture, with Lesley Hanlin (Sr. Director, Head of Accessibility and Inclusion, TIAA).
Speed without Sacrifice: Building an Accessibility-First Culture in Agile Teams, with John Sweet and Andrew Walker (from Paramount Streaming).
Centering neurodiversity for better product experiences, with Laurel Franciose (Staff UX Designer, Adobe).
And that’s just a small sampling! Additional highlights include a panel on accessibility in higher education, a session on writing accessible documentation, and a presentation from Deque’s own Ben Allen on shifting left.
As you close out your Tuesday, we hope you’ll join us for day two of axe-con! We’ll now leave you with these words, also from Glenda Sims:
“Be inspired today, so that you can be an inspiration tomorrow. Take what you’ve learned, the connections you’ve made, and the energy of this community, and carry it forward.”
Three cheers to the global axe-con tomorrow, and we can’t wait to join you again tomorrow!