When + Where

The event will take place on Monday, October 19 at the Raleigh Convention Center. Programming will take place from 9:00am to 5:30pm (doors open at 7:30am).

Cost: FREE

Free admission to co-located events is made possible by Google. Includes access to the Open Source Accessibility Summit, a boxed lunch, and the Monday social.

About the Open Source Accessibility Summit

This summit launches the Open Source Accessibility Framework, an improvement and accountability model that helps open source projects make accessibility part of their ongoing work.

Attendees will learn how to begin with practical foundational actions and progressively integrate accessibility into project workflows, testing, and community practices. The framework is not a certification, score, ranking, or guarantee of conformance. It supports sustained, visible progress.

Agenda

• 9:00 am – 9:15 am • Welcome
  An introduction to the summit, the goals for the day, and what attendees can expect from the sessions.
  
• 9:15 am – 9:45 am • Keynote
  Opening keynote from Joe Devon.
  
• 9:45 am – 10:15 am • Introduction to the Open Source Accessibility Framework
  Speaker: Maria Lamardo
  Resource: Open Source Accessibility Framework
  An introduction to the framework, why it was created, and how open source projects can use it to make incremental and publicly trackable accessibility improvements.
  
• 10:15 am – 11:15 am • Foundational Phase
  Speaker: Sam Fleming
  Resource: Foundational Phase
  A practical introduction to making a project’s accessibility commitment and accessibility work visible.
  
• 11:15 am – 11:30 am • Break
  
• 11:30 am – 1:00 pm • Testing Phase
  Speaker: Dennis Lembree
  Resource: Testing Phase
  An overview of repeatable automated and manual accessibility testing practices for project code, interfaces, documentation, and core user flows.
  
• 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm • Lunch 
  Lunch will be served from 1:00pm to 1:30pm
  
• 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm • Workflow Phase
  Speaker: Sam Fleming
  Resource: Workflow Phase
  A practical look at integrating accessibility into the everyday processes used to plan, build, review, and maintain open source projects.
  
• 3:30 pm – 4:15 pm • Community Phase
  Speakers: Jeff Bishop, Esther Siram, and Jen Mankoff
  Resource: Community Phase
  A discussion of how projects can make collaboration more accessible and involve users, contributors, practitioners, and people with disabilities throughout the project lifecycle.
  
• 4:15 pm – 4:30 pm • Closing
  A summary of the day, recommended next steps, and ways attendees can begin using or contributing to the framework.

Recommended attendee preparation

1. Create or confirm access to a GitHub account.
   The framework activities during the summit will use GitHub issues, labels, repositories, and project tracking.
2. Bring a laptop to follow along.
   Attendees should have access to a web browser and, if applicable, the GitHub repository for a project they maintain or contribute to.
3. Choose an open source project to consider during the sessions.
   This may be a project they maintain, contribute to, or use regularly. Attendees without a project can still participate and learn from the examples.
4. Review the framework before the event.
   Explore the Open Source Accessibility Framework
5. Optionally register a project.
   Attendees who are ready to use the framework can complete the project registration form.
   Registration creates a public GitHub issue that tracks the project’s progress. Attendees should only register a project if they are comfortable making that information public and are authorized to represent or work with the project.