DHS Accessibility Day 2022 is a two-day, free virtual event experience using Adobe Connect that brings together people with disabilities, accessibility professionals, and allies within DHS to enhance the user experience through accessible technology.
Even people who may not have anything to do with technology or accessibility are encouraged to join us! Did you know that more than 12 DHS Components have a team with accessibility expertise?
This year's theme is "Inclusion through accessible technology" and the registration will close on May 6, 2022. The event will be held over two days: Wednesday, May 11 and Thursday, May 12, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Eastern Time.
Last year, we had over 600 participants in attendance. Both days are packed with panel discussions and presentations from both DHS and external experts.
The event is only available to federal employees and federal contractors within the United States Government.
If you are a DHS employee, please refer to our DHS Connect internal website for more content, such as speakers' biographies, frequently asked questions, download materials, and support for accessibility and accommodations.
Please contact Accessibility@hq.dhs.gov for questions or if you need more information.
| Time | Category | Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 – 10:05 a.m. | Remarks | Introduction and Opening Remarks | Nicshan Floyd Acting DHS OAST Executive Director |
| 10:05 – 10:15 a.m. | Remarks | Keynote Remarks | Eric Hysen Acting DHS Undersecretary of Management and DHS Chief Information Officer (CIO) |
| 10:15 – 10:30 a.m. | Remarks | Keynote Remarks | Peter Mina Acting DHS Officer for Civil Rights & Civil Liberties (CRCL) |
| 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. | Remarks | Keynote Remarks | Michael Land DHS Digital Services |
| 11:00 – 11:45 a.m. | Panel Discussion | Discussion on DEIA Executive Order 14035 A look into the DEIA initiative implementation within multiple federal agencies under the Executive Order 14035. |
Moderator: Andrew Nielson, GSA Director of the Government-wide IT Accessibility Program
|
| 11:45 – 12:00 p.m. | Break | Break | |
| 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. | Activity | Web Accessibility Storytelling | Dominique Wheeler DHS OAST Project Manager |
| 12:30 – 1:15 p.m. | Panel Discussion | Discussion on Accessibility inside DHS | Moderator: Matthew Harmon, DHS Director of Web Communications, Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
|
| 1:15 – 1:30 p.m. | Break | Break | |
| 1:30 – 2:15 p.m. | Panel Discussion | Discussion on user experience design and the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the design/test process | Moderator: Brandon Pace, HQ Section 508 Program Manager
|
| 2:15 – 2:55 p.m. | Presentation | Accessible Virtual Room as a Model for the Federal Government | Brain Hendricks and Morgan Garrard Office of Science & Engineering, Technology Centers Division DHS Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) |
| 2:55 – 3:00 p.m. | Remarks | Closing Remarks | Nicshan Floyd Acting DHS OAST Executive Director |
| Time | Category | Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 – 10:05 a.m. | Remarks | Opening Remarks | Nicshan Floyd Acting DHS OAST Executive Director |
| 10:05 – 10:15 a.m. | Remarks | Keynote Remarks | Michael Horton DHS Chief Data Officer (CDO) |
| 10:15 – 11:00 a.m. | Presentation | Accessible Documents Workshop and Automated Testing Tools | Nicshan Floyd Acting DHS OAST Executive Director |
| 11:00 – 11:15 a.m. | Break | Break | |
| 11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Presentation | A11yDevOps (Accessibility Dev/Ops) Agile DevOps and the future of digital accessibility in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) |
Alan King DHS OAST Senior Accessibility Engineer |
| 12:00 – 12:45 p.m. | Presentation | Trusted Tester 5.1 Update | Cliff Soon DHS OAST Senior Accessibility Analyst |
| 12:45 – 1:00 p.m. | Break | Break | |
| 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. | Panel Discussion | Discussion on the OAST Playbook from an Acquisition perspective | Moderator: Joseph Key, DHS OAST Governance Specialist
508 Program Managers:
Office of Chief Information Officer PMs and CORs:
Office of Chief Procurement Officer/Office of Procurement Operations:
|
| 2:00 – 2:15 p.m. | Break | Break | |
| 2:15 – 2:45 p.m. | Presentation | Dancing with Accessibility | Annette Carr TSA Disability Program Manager |
| 2:45 – 3:00 p.m. | Remarks | Closing Remarks | Nicshan Floyd Acting DHS OAST Executive Director |
DHS is committed to ensure all events are accessible, even if they're virtual. Please contact us if you need further assistance or accommodations by clicking here: Submit Request for Accommodation
Sign Language (ASL)
DHS will provide a team of three American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters for both days. There will be one interpreter visible on the screen for most sessions that are 30 minutes or less. When there is a panel discussion, it's possible a team of at least two interpreters will work together in synchronization on the screen. If and when an active interpreter has technical difficulties, relief interpreters are on stand-by to take over quickly to ensure communication facilitation is not interrupted and continue to be effective.
Captioning (CART)
DHS will provide live captioning through a certified machine stenographer (as known as court reporter). Captioning will be feed into Adobe Connect's built-in captioning where you are able to turn on/off, configure the captioning style to your preference (e.g. font, text size, text color, background color). You can even move the captions anywhere on the Adobe Connect window to your liking, just like Zoom!
Accessible Electronic Materials
DHS will provide all accessible electronic materials for the Blind or Low-Vision Community in advance. If you would like to receive a copy, please contact Accessibility@hq.dhs.gov.
Keyboard Shortcuts and Assistive Technology
Adobe authored a helpful white paper on accessibility for Adobe Connect that includes keyboard shortcuts and tips for screen reader users. You can download the white paper here. Adobe developed the Adobe Connect version 11 with accessibility in mind and tested using JAWS 13 as a benchmark.
This virtual event, its materials, and the speakers are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as DHS endorsement or approval of any of the products, services, organizations, or any external links.