Four accessibility authors, one conversation

David Dame, Matisse Hamel-Nelis, Jennifer Chadwick and Solomon Hsu have all written books on accessibility, and each of them wrote for a different reader.

David wrote about leadership, from a career spent leading with cerebral palsy. Matisse wrote for communicators who know this matters and are not sure where to start. Jennifer wrote the chapter on content, which is the part most teams already own without realising it. Solomon wrote a manual a designer, a developer and a product manager can each open to their own page.

That spread is the reason I wanted this conversation. Accessibility is usually taught one role at a time. The developer gets the code session, the designer gets the colour contrast session, the leader gets the business case. Everyone leaves with their own piece and nobody leaves with the whole thing. These four wrote for four different readers, and putting them in the same conversation is the closest thing I have found to hearing the whole thing at once.

I want to ask them why they started, what they cut, and what they would write differently now.

Nobody is presenting and there are no slides. It is a conversation, and I am moderating.

Forty five minutes, then your questions, typed into the chat.

Details

Wednesday, September 9, 2026. 2:00 PM Eastern, finishing by 3:00.

Online, on Microsoft Teams. Free to attend.

Access

Automatic captions are on for the full session.

The session is recorded, and the recording is published on A11YVERSE afterwards, free to watch.

The joining link arrives by email after you register.

Questions are typed into the chat, so nobody has to speak or turn on a camera.

Panellists

David Dame

Senior Director, Product Accessibility and Human Centered Design for Windows and Devices at Microsoft.

David has spent more than thirty years building technology used by millions of people. He has led the creation of Microsoft Adaptive Accessories, the Surface Adaptive Kit, the Inclusive Trackpad, the Bold Keyboard and the Inclusive Tech Lab. Those are shipped products, not prototypes.

He lives with cerebral palsy, and that experience shapes how he leads and how he challenges teams to think differently. His argument is that human centered design is not about empathy alone. It is about outcomes. Design for the edges and the experience improves for everyone.

His book: Leading with Imperfect Feet, How my disability enabled me to become an even more agile leader, 8080 Books, 2026.

Matisse Hamel-Nelis

Communications and digital accessibility consultant based in Toronto, principal of Matisse Nelis Consulting, and part-time professor at Durham College.

Matisse is certified as an Accessible Documents Specialist and a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies through the International Association of Accessibility Professionals. She is the founder and host of PR and Lattes, a podcast for communications professionals.

Matisse writes for communicators who know accessibility matters and do not know where to start. Email, documents, video, social. The legislation is explained rather than quoted at you.

Her book: Accessible Communications, Create Impact, Avoid Missteps and Build Trust, written with Lisa Riemers, Kogan Page, 2025.

Jennifer Chadwick

Founder of Journey Accessibility, and a former UX designer with more than fifteen years of global experience helping digital teams own and operationalise accessibility.

Jennifer is a policy and standards advisor on WCAG and EN 301 549, a W3C invited expert contributing to WCAG 3.0, and co-chair of the Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Mapping Community Group. She has spoken at CSUN, A11yTO, AccessU, the IAAP M-Enabling Summit and United Nations COSP.

She wrote the chapter on creating accessible content, which is the part of accessibility most teams already own without realising they own it.

Her book: Inclusive Design for Accessibility, A practical guide to digital accessibility, UX, and inclusive web and app design, Packt, 2025.

Solomon Hsu

Founder of Vivid Senses Design.

Solomon wrote the reference manual a cross functional team can share. It bridges the gap between the standards and the actual work, and answers the questions that come up between roles, when a designer asks about focus states, a developer is stuck on ARIA labels, and a product manager is deciding what makes the roadmap.

Every role gets its own guidance, in plain language a team can pick up and use the same day.

His book: Digital Accessibility Compass.