The Digital Accessibility Legal Summit
Speaker Bios (2019, 2020, 2021)
(in alphabetical order)
Jon Avila (2020)
Jonathan (Jon) Avila is the Chief Accessibility Officer for Level Access. Jon is involved in updating and maintaining Level Access’s Unified Audit Methodology and best practice library relating to Section 508, WCAG, and other accessibility standards. Jon has deep experience in the analysis, design and repair of software, web pages, mobile apps, games, documentation and hardware for accessibility. Jon participates in the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group and the Low Vision Accessibility Task Force, and is on the Global Leadership Council of the International Association of Accessibility Professional, and blogs on accessibility issues.
More information: Jon Avila
Peter Blanck (2021)
Dr. Blanck is University Professor at Syracuse University, which is the highest faculty rank granted to eight prior individuals in the history of the University. He is Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University. Blanck holds appointments at the Syracuse University Colleges of Law, and Arts and Sciences, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, School of Education, and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Prior to his appointment at Syracuse, Blanck was Kierscht Professor of Law and director of the Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center at the University of Iowa. Blanck is Honorary Professor, Centre for Disability Law & Policy, at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Blanck received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester, a Juris Doctorate from Stanford University, where he was President of the Stanford Law Review, and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard University. Blanck has written articles and books on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related laws, and received grants to study disability law and policy. Blanck and Robin Malloy are editors of the Cambridge University Press series Disability Law and Policy.
More information: Peter Blanck
Rachel Braaten (2021)
Rachel Braaten has been leading the Enterprise Digital Accessibility Program at Thomson Reuters since 2018. Her responsibilities are diverse and include creating, overseeing, and delivering the enterprise roadmap for Digital Accessibility across Thomson Reuters. This work encompasses all customer, general public, and employee facing digital applications. Rachel and her team of highly talented, dedicated Accessibility Specialists work to support and advise teams how to work with accessibility in mind. By embedding Accessibility Specialists in day-to-day project support, providing employee training, and influencing corporate policies, Rachel promotes embracing an accessibility-aware culture and practice across the entire organization.
More information: Rachel Braaten
Charles-Edouard Catherine (2021)
Charles-Edouard Catherine is the Director of Corporate and Government Relations, National Organization on Disability. Charles joined the National Organization on Disability in 2018. With a background in Global Health, he served for several years as the executive director of the Surgeons of Hope Foundation. A 2012 graduate of Sciences Po Bordeaux, France, Charles holds a Master’s degrees in International Relations. Charles is also a classical pianist of 28 years, a blind soccer player, a Marathoner, and an elite Triathlete.
More information: Charles-Edouard Catherine
Jennifer Chadwick (2020)
Jennifer Chadwick is Siteimprove's Lead Accessibility Strategist and Consultant for North America. She drives business strategy for the Accessibility platform in the US and Canada, and guides the development of new accessibility initiatives based on end-user needs. A UX designer, developer, and certified usability analyst for over 14 years, she has helped several organizations to create their roadmap for accessibility through a process of adopting, implementing, and delivering inclusive design practices into their operations and culture. She is an active contributor to resource materials for professionals from within the W3C’s Education and Outreach Working Group, Silver Working Group and Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Methodology (ARRM) Working Group.
More information: Siteimprove
Robert Dinerstein - Speaker (2020, 2021) & Steering Committee Member (2020, 2021, 2022)
Robert D. Dinerstein is a professor of law and director of the Disability Rights Law Clinic at American University, Washington College of Law (WCL), where he has taught since 1983. Prior to coming to WCL, he was an attorney for five years at the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation Section. Among other areas, he specializes in the rights of people with intellectual, developmental, and psychosocial disabilities; ADA/CRPD interpretation; supported decision making as an alternative to guardianship; and the intersection between disability and the criminal justice system. He has an A.B. degree from Cornell University and a J.D. degree from Yale Law School.
More information: Robert Dinerstein
Pina D'Intino - Speaker (2019, 2020, 2021) & Steering Committee Member (2020, 2021, 2022)
Giuseppina (Pina) D’Intino is an internationally recognized accessibility speaker, strategist and integration specialist and entrepreneur. For the last 19 years, Ms. D’Intino has helped businesses achieve inclusion through diversity, inclusion, accessibility and leadership. As founder of Aequum Global Access, Inc., an entrepreneur at heart, she works with many large public and private organizations including international banks, telecommunication and large consulting organizations in Canada and the USA. She has led initiatives to develop accessibility center of excellence that manages and remediates large volumes of websites and content, and trained the teams to build capacity for sustainability and new business opportunities. With her deep understanding of business operational processes and the needs of persons with different abilities, she can bridge the needs and wants from different stakeholder perspectives. Ms. D’Intino was the Founder and co-chair of the Canadian Financial Institute on Assistive Technologies (CFIAT); is a Member of the G3 ICT IAAP -International Association of Accessibility Professionals, Co-Chair of Financial Services for G3ict, and Advisor on a number of Canadian provincial regulatory bodies and federally initiated reviews and projects. She is a certified PMI member, and holds a master’s degree in Design in Inclusive Design (MDes) from OCADU. Ms. D’Intino also received awards and recognition for her work in womens' leadership, and received a QE2 Diamond Jubilee medal in advancing employment for persons with disabilities.
More information: Pina D'Intino
Joseph DiNero (2021)
Joseph DiNero is an Assistive Technology Specialist at Helen Keller Services for the Blind, a non profit organization that offers a wide range of services and programs for people of all ages who are blind or have vision impairments. In his work at Helen Keller Services, Joe teaches people who are blind or visually impaired how to use assistive technology to aid them in becoming more independent. In Joe’s work with his students, he provides them with the user-skills necessary to be successful in the future as a visually impaired person, whether they are pursuing higher education or participating in the workforce.
More information: Jospeh DiNero
Tim Elder (2019)
Tim Elder is a civil rights litigator. He is the Principal Attorney of the TRE Legal Practice, a civil rights law firm focusing on the rights of the blind and other disabled people to access employment, education, government programs, public accommodations, accessible technology and all other aspects of society. Working with a network of attorneys from across the United States, Tim has helped secure injunctions against testing entities for their failure to accommodate disabled students, negotiated groundbreaking settlements with publicly traded companies, tried employment discrimination cases before juries and argued before federal trial and appellate courts. Representative matters include a class action filed against Marriott International for its failure to make job-related software accessible to blind call center employees; a nation-wide class action filed against Uber for its failure to train and prevent its drivers from discriminating against passengers with service animals; settlements involving screen reader accommodations for college students; negotiations securing Braille instruction for blind K-12 students; and several federal lawsuits and structured negotiations involving inaccessible touchscreen technology, websites or mobile apps of public accommodations. Tim graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. During law school, he externed with the Hon. Marilyn Hall Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Tim regularly presents on the topic of disability law. He has held leadership positions in the American Bar Association and the National Association of Blind Lawyers.
More information: Tim Elder
Lainey Feingold (2019)
Lainey Feingold is a disability rights lawyer focusing on digital access, an international speaker, and the author of Structured Negotiation, A Winning Alternative to Lawsuits. Lainey's book is packed with win-win stories of accessibility advocacy with some of the largest organizations in the U.S., all without lawsuits. In 2017 Lainey was named one of the 13 Legal Rebels by the ABA Journal, the national magazine of the American Bar Association. That year she was also named the individual recipient of the John W. Cooley Lawyer as Problem Solver award, given annually by the Dispute Resolution Section of the ABA. Lainey has twice been recognized with a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) award (2000 and 2014) for her digital accessibility and Structured Negotiation legal work.
More information: Lainey Feingold
Michelle M. Goldberg, Ph.D. (2021)
Michelle Goldberg is the manager of accommodated testing at the Law School Admission Council. In that role, she serves as a reviewer and decision-maker for testing accommodation requests for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), acts as the primary liaison with LSAC's external disabilities experts, and supervises daily operations of the unit. Prior to joining LSAC in 2018, Michelle held a similar role with the National Board of Medical Examiners, where for nearly ten years she managed the disability services department and was responsible for decisions regarding test accommodations for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). Michelle is a Pennsylvania Licensed Psychologist and Certified School Psychologist, and holds a B.A. in Psychology from McDaniel College, M.S. in Applied Psychology from the University of Baltimore, and a Ph.D. from an American Psychological Association-accredited combined School and Clinical Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania.
More information: Michelle Goldberg
Dan Goldstein (2019)
Dan Goldstein, formerly a founding partner of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP retired from the practice of law at the end of 2017. For over 30 years he represented the National Federation of the Blind and many individual blind clients in disability rights matters, many of which involved equal access to technology, such as voting machines, online absentee ballots, ATMs, websites and educational and workplace software. In 2018, Dan was invited to present the opening keynote speech at the prestigious CSUN Assistive Technology Conference. When it won't interfere with fishing, he continues to work on projects, such as accessibility standards for companies and incorporating accessibility standards into accreditation standards for higher education.
More information: Dan Goldstein
Deepa Goraya - Speaker (2020) & Steering Committee Member (2020, 2021, 2022)
Deepa Goraya is a Trial Attorney at the DC Office of the Attorney General, Workers’ Rights and Anti-Fraud Section. Previously she was a Public Rights Project Fellow in the Office of the Delaware Attorney General, where she worked in the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust and with the Director of Impact Litigation to address civil rights abuses by developing pattern and practice discrimination investigations and litigation in the areas of public accommodations, disability rights, employment discrimination, voting rights, fair housing, education, consumer fraud, redlining/discriminatory lending, and other areas. Prior to this, Ms. Goraya worked as a Staff Attorney at Disability Rights Maryland in the ADA/DD/Medicaid Team, where she represented individuals with disabilities in administrative hearings to obtain and maintain support services such as home and community based services through Medicaid 1915(c) waivers, Maryland’s Community First Choice program, REM nursing, and in-home aid services. Ms. Goraya has experience in enforcing the rights of people with disabilities through litigation in the areas of public accommodations, transportation, employment, education, and other areas, and has focused in particular on improving the accessibility of web sites, mobile applications, and touch screen technology for the blind. Prior to joining Disability Rights Maryland, Ms. Goraya was Associate Counsel at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. While there, she worked on numerous cases challenging violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act, and state and local disability statutes.
More information: Deepa Goraya
Kevin Hara (2021) & Steering Committee Member (2022)
Kevin Hara is an associate in Reed Smith’s Life Sciences and Health Industries Group. Kevin’s practice focuses on life sciences product liability litigation and multidistrict and mass tort litigation. His experience includes representation of many major manufacturers of medical products including numerous cardiac and orthopedic medical devices, and commonly used prescription medications. Because of Kevin’s emphasis on working with pharmaceutical and medical device companies, he is familiar with the research process and the clinical and regulatory aspects used in the industry. Kevin is a co-founder of LEADRS (Looking for Excellence and Advancement of persons with disabilities at Reed Smith), the firm’s business inclusion group that supports persons with disabilities of all types at Reed Smith. In 2021, Reed Smith was named the "2021 Champion for Disability Inclusion in the Legal Profession" by the American Bar Association Commission on Disability Rights. Kevin's publications relating to his role in LEADRS include: "Employing people with disabilities is good for business" (2021); "Disability Inclusion Summit Report: Championing the talent of people with disabilities" (with Adlakha, Andrews, Boutcher, Box, Ceeney, Debevec, Pepper, Radcliffe, & Snyderman, 2020); "Why Organizations Need to Be ‘Disability-Confident’… and How to Make that Happen" (with Debevec, Pepper, Crespo, & Iino, 2020); "Disability Inclusion: Removing barriers to finding top talent" (with Burton, 2020); and "Driving Progress through Diversity & Inclusion, featuring Kevin Hara (LEADRS)" (2020).
More information: Kevin Hara
Karl Groves (2020)
An unstoppable force for change and thought-leader in an industry regarded for saying “No”, Karl Groves would rather lead by example in saying “Yes, and here’s how…” He seeks to offer solutions to complex problems relating to universal usability. He believes that together we can meet both our goals: your business goals and his goals to lead the way in accessible user experiences. Karl has over a decade of experience in doing IT consulting for the biggest companies in the world and biggest agencies in the U.S. government. Widely regarded as a pragmatic solution-finder, his work is cited in nearly a dozen books and used on curricula in Human-Computer Interaction across the globe. He leads by doing, teaches from experience, and succeeds by facilitating others’ success. When others say, “That can’t be done”, Karl shows them how.
More information: Karl Groves
Eve Hill (2020, 2021)
Eve Hill is one of the nation’s leading disability rights attorneys. Eve is a partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP and co-leader of Inclusivity, Strategic Consulting. From 2011 to 2017, Eve was Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she oversaw disability rights enforcement and policymaking.
More information: Eve Hill
Jeremy Horelick (2021)
Jeremy Horelick is Vice President of Business Development for ADA Site Compliance, a leading provider of web accessibility solutions for businesses. Jeremy works with clients across virtually every industry to help them make their websites, mobile apps, PDFs, and other digital assets compliant for those with disabilities. Jeremy specializes in finding practical and cost-effective strategies for companies of all sizes to stay ahead of the changing landscape of digital accessibility. Prior to helping launch ADA Site Compliance, Jeremy was a private wealth advisor for a Wall Street investment firm.
More information: Jeremy Horelick
Richard Hunt (2021)
Richard Hunt is a Board Certified Civil Trial lawyer with more than 35 years of trial experience in state and federal courts. At Hunt Huey, PLLC, he has a national ADA and FHA consulting and defense practice representing real estate developers, retailers, restaurants, shopping centers, banks, apartment owners and managers, hotels, single family developers and governmental entities in ADA and FHA accessibility litigation and administrative proceedings. Richard speaks frequently on ADA and FHA accessibility issues to both national and local organizations, including the International Council of Shopping Center Developers, the Society of Exchange Counselors, the National Retail Tenants Association and similar groups. He has been interviewed for and quoted in articles appearing in Forbes, The Economist, and other publications. His consulting practice includes private client training and public webinars on avoiding and winning ADA and FHA lawsuits. He has served as an adjunct professor of Disability Law at the SMU Dedman School of law and as an adjunct professor of Trial Advocacy at the former DFW School of Law. His blog, "Accessibility Defense" serves as a national resource for hundreds of attorneys, accessibility experts and others involved in ADA and FHA litigation.
More information: Richard Hunt
Dr. Douglas L. Kruse (2021)
Douglas L. Kruse is the Director of the Program for Disability Research at Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations. Dr. Kruse is a Distinguished Professor, Human Resource Management (HRM), Distinguished Professor, Labor Studies and Employment Relations (LSER), and Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. Doug Kruse has a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. He conducts econometric studies on employee ownership, profit sharing, disability, worker displacement, pensions, and wage differentials. He has published over 100 scholarly papers, including articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Economic Journal, Human Resource Management, Monthly Labor Review, and Industrial Relations. He has testified four times before Congress on his economic research, and conducted several studies for the U.S. Department of Labor and for the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
More information: Douglas L. Kruse
Kristina Launey (2019)
Kristina Launey is in the Labor & Employment Department of Seyfarth Shaw LLP and Managing Partner of Seyfarth’s Sacramento office. She is an efficient and effective litigator and counselor, specializing in employment and civil rights laws, who provides clients with options and helps them achieve results in light of their business realities. A leader of Seyfarth’s ADA Title III Specialty Team, Kristina regularly advises and defends clients in litigation arising under Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related federal and state laws. She has defended disability access lawsuits ranging from the very complex and contentious to those resulting in relatively simple settlements, and is experienced in structured negotiations. Ms. Launey has counseled clients on issues ranging from physical accessibility, to compliance with service animal, reservations, effective communication, ticketing requirements of California law and the ADA 2010 Standards, to cutting-edge digital accessibility issues. She is co-editor of Seyfarth’s www.adatitleiii.com blog, and frequently writes and speaks on accessibility issues.
More information: Kristina Launey
Dr. Chris M. Law - Speaker (2019, 2021) & Organizer / Steering Committee Member (2019 - Present)
Dr. Law is the President of Accessibility Track Consulting, LLC, and Executive Director, Standard Accessibility Reporting, Inc. Since 2015, Accessibility Track has delivered innovative projects with and for the accessibility community. In 2016 he co-founded the annual Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Accessibility Testing Symposium. In 2019 he founded the annual Digital Accessibility Legal Summit. Chris is the lead developer and lead author of the National Federation of the Blind’s Accessibility Switchboard information portal. The Switchboard brings together a community of practice of over thirty organizations to produce resources and guidance to help newcomers to the field of digital accessibility. Chris was previously chair of the Organizational Development Committee of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). He is also the organizer and executive director of a new organization formed in 2022, addressing the need for Industry Consensus Standards for Accessibility Reporting.
More information: Chris Law
Anil Lewis (2021)
Anil Lewis is the Executive Director of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. He leads a dynamic team of individuals responsible for the creation, development, implementation, and replication of innovative projects and programs throughout a nationwide network of affiliates that work to positively affect the education, employment, and quality of life of all blind people. As the director of Advocacy and Policy for the NFB, Lewis was responsible for a variety of public policy and strategic programs. Most notably, he was the legislative lead of the NFB’s efforts to repeal Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, an obsolete provision that allows employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage.
More information: Anil Lewis
Marcie Lipsitt (2020)
My mother told me at the age of ten that I was born carrying a soapbox. Fifty years later, I am and have always been a civil rights activist and education advocate. I am founder and co-chair of the Michigan Alliance for Special Education, a grassroots advocacy organization that has held four rallies on the steps of our Michigan Capitol between 2007-2018. My next rally, “The Michigan Kids with IEPs, 504s and Nothing, Count Day Rally” is scheduled for October 7, 2020. I am recognized as a “frequent flier” with the United States Department of Education (DoE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR). I filed more than 2,400 OCR complaints in the area of web accessibility between January 2016 – March 2018 and just over 1,000 to date have resulted in signed resolution agreements. In addition, I assist parents with no fewer than 100 OCR complaints per year on a myriad of issues for their children with disabilities. I am the mother of an almost 31 year old with special needs and have a younger sister with severe learning disabilities. From my sister to my son and decades of children between and after, I’ve been intractably committed to our nation’s children and believing in their rights to a meaningful public education that sends them on to post-secondary education and the global workforce. I am on a mission to make America’s public websites accessible for children and adults with disabilities. I often say that while I have a full daily calendar, life often has another plan. I have always embraced every new challenge and believing that civil rights are every American’s greatest right.
More information: Marcie Lipsitt
Susan Mazrui (2021)
Susan Mazrui is the Director of Global Public Policy, AT&T Services, Inc. Susan Mazrui began work in Communications in 1994 at Pacific Bell in Disability Marketing. In 1998, she moved to the wireless field, where she developed corporate strategies for state and federal legal and regulatory compliance. Under her leadership, Cingular Wireless became the first national carrier to offer “talking” cellphones and establish a task force on accessibility. Mazrui worked closely with TDI and the Hearing Loss Association of America and other industry members to address hearing aid and TTY compatibility with digital wireless handsets. At AT&T, Mazrui was instrumental in establishing the Corporate Accessibility Technology Office which has assessed over 50,000 AT&T products and services. She was the architect of AT&T’s Accessibility and Inclusion Program with cross company teams addressing the needs of deaf and disabled employees and their family members. AT&T has consistently received scores of 100 in the Disability Equality Index and the National Organization on Disability’s Leading Disability Employer. Mazrui was named a Corporate Fellow by the Summit on Leading Diversity and inducted into the Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2013, she was recognized as Employee of the Year by Careers and the disABLED, and in 2014 by AT&T as a Champion of Diversity. In 2016, she received the Digital Accessibility Leadership Award from G3ict and the Stephen Garff Marriott Award for mentoring from American Foundation for the Blind. In 2019, Mazrui was honored by The Community of Connection and TDI for her work in the disability field. She has served several terms on Federal Advisory Committees, is on the boards of the World Institute on Disability and G3ict. Mazrui lives with her husband, Jamal, and daughter, Nicole, in Seattle. When not working, Mazrui enjoys Dragon Boating, visiting Disneyland and performing stand-up comedy.
More information: Susan Mazrui
Jack McElaney Speaker (2019, 2020, 2021) & Steering Committee Member (2019 - Present)
Jack McElaney is Microassist’s vice president of sales and marketing responsible for accessibility consulting services. Jack is also the publisher of Accessibility in the News, a weekly curated newsletter that is widely read in the accessibility industry. Jack developed and manages an ongoing partnership with LexisNexis to write monthly accessibility articles for their Mealey's Litigation Report: Cyber Tech & E-Commerce. Jack has held several executive management roles at Thomson Reuters and at Sheshunoff Consulting & Solutions where he was the managing director of risk services and was responsible for compliance and audit products and services.
More information: Jack McElaney
Ken Nakata (2021)
Ken Nakata is a former Senior Trial Attorney with the U.S. Justice Department's Disability Rights Section. He developed nationwide ADA policies for the internet, was awarded the Attorney General's Award for Excellence in Information Technology by Attorney General Janet Reno, served as lead counsel for the interagency working group making the Federal government's information technology accessible to people with disabilities (pursuant to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act), and represented the United States many times in litigation in Federal courts. He has trained teams on the proper coding in HTML for accessibility as well as led continuing legal education (CLE) courses for attorneys on legal defenses in web accessibility cases under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California's Unruh Act. Ken is a Founding and former Board Member of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). Ken is admitted to the bars of New York, Washington, and the District of Columbia and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
More information: Ken Nakata
Andrew Nielson (2021)
Andrew Nielson is the Director of the Government-wide IT Accessibility Program at the U.S. General Services Administration. He is a co-founder of the annual ICT Accessibility Testing Symposium and in 2021-22 serves as the conference Co-Chair. The Symposium brings together experts from around the world in the field of ICT accessibility testing to exchange academic analysis of current ICT accessibility testing issues and explore approaches to improve accessibility testing practices. He is a principal co-author of the current version of the Harmonized Processes for Revised Section 508: Baseline Tests for Web Accessibility (aka the "ICT Baseline"). Andrew was also the coordinator and facilitator of the inter-agency team of experts that developed both the Baseline and the current version of the "Trusted Tester" accessibility testing process, which is recognized across the federal government as the gold standard for accessibility testing. Thousands of students and prospective "Trusted Testers" are currently enrolled in the Trusted Tester certification course that Andrew and his team developed.
More information: Andrew Nielson
LaMondré T. Pough (2020)
LaMondré Pough is the Chief Sustainability Officer for Ruh Global IMPACT and host of the podcast 5P with LaMondré (5Ppodcast.com) where he combines both his personal and professional missions to “create environments where all people have a sense of belonging - where their insights, experiences and perspectives are truly valued.” LaMondré began his career in Disability Inclusion as a college student in central South Carolina where he became the leading advocate at The Disability Action Center, the state’s first Independent Living Center. He went on to launch The LaMondré Pough Show Empowerment Radio and to create the Best Buy Access Initiative for Best Buy Co. Inc., before joining TecAccess where he rose to VP of Sales and Marketing. A native of South Carolina, LaMondré was elected Chairman of the Student Advisory Board at Midlands Technical College where he studied Liberal Arts and English Literature. He was recently awarded with an Honorary Doctorate in Christian Humanities by The School of the Great Commission. Diagnosed before his second birthday with spinal muscular atrophy, LaMondré resides in Columbia, where he serves as the Chairman of Arts Access South Carolina and is a recognized leader and voice for the community of People with Disabilities.
More information: LaMondré T. Pough
Shane Rhodes (2020)
Shane Rhodes is the Acting Director of the Legislation Development Division in Employment and Social Development Canada’s Accessibility Secretariat, which led the development of the Accessible Canada Act. Shane has over 15 years of experience on various social policy and disability files within the Government of Canada and started his career in the not-for-profit sector.
More information: Employment and Social Development Canada
Howard A. Rosenblum (2019)
Howard A. Rosenblum is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). In this capacity, he oversees the operations of the NAD to carry out its mission of preserving, protecting and promoting the civil, human and linguistic rights of deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States. He also serves as the Legal Director overseeing the staff lawyers as well as policy advocacy and litigation work within the NAD Law and Advocacy Center. Mr. Rosenblum has twenty-six years of experience as a disability rights attorney including: seven years overseeing and directing the NAD Law and Advocacy Center; nine years as a Senior Attorney at Equip for Equality, a nonprofit organization designated as Illinois’ Protection and Advocacy entity; and ten years before that with a private law firm. His legal practice has been in the areas of disability rights and special education. He is the primary author of the American Bar Association Guidelines on Court Access for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People and the sixth edition of the NAD Legal Rights: Guide for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People. He has provided numerous workshops nationally and internationally on the Americans with Disability Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. He currently serves as the legal advisor to the World Federation of the Deaf. In 2010, he was appointed by President Obama to serve on the U.S. Access Board and was reappointed in 2014. Mr. Rosenblum received his law degree from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law (1992), and his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Arizona (1988).
More information: Howard Rosenblum
Debra Ruh - Speaker (2020) & Steering Committee Member (2020)
Debra Ruh is the CEO of Ruh Global IMPACT. The firm consults with Corporations, Governments, United Nations (UN) Agencies, Academia and Non-Governmental Organizations on disability inclusion, digital inclusion, Tech4Good, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The UN President’s office invited Debra to address the UN General Assembly at the Conference of State Parties 9th session on May 13, 2016. Selected as the North American representative for UN International Labor Organization (ILO) Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN). US State Department global speaker and ambassador since 2018. Nominated as Global Goodwill Ambassador in 2018. Debra is an author of three books, Inclusion Branding (available in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Voice via Audible), Tapping into Hidden Human Capital, and Finding Your Voice using Social Media. Debra is a global influencer, with over 300,000+ on social media. Co-founder of award winning #AXSChat one of largest tweet chats in the world with over 8+ billion tweets. Named in the “Top 5% of Social Media Influencers” and “Top 0.1% of people talking about Disability Inclusion and Accessibility” by KLOUT, #15 in Digital Scouts, and Top #100 Global Digital Influencers in Sept 2018. Debra has been featured on CBS, ABC, NBC, Washington Post, INC, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Huffington Post, NY Times, Christian Science Monitor, and more.
More information: Debra Ruh
Jared Smith (2019, 2021)
Jared Smith is the Associate Director of WebAIM. He is a highly demanded presenter and trainer and has provided web accessibility training to thousands of developers throughout the world. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that is used to help others create and maintain highly accessible web content.
More information: Jared Smith
Karen Peltz Strauss - Speaker (2019, 2020) & Steering Committee Member (2020)
Karen Peltz Strauss is an attorney who, over the past four decades, has led nationwide efforts to secure disability access to electronic communications and video programming. Among other things, Strauss was lead drafter of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act and other landmark laws requiring closed captioning, video description, access to communications services and devices, telecommunications relay services, hearing aid compatibility, and accessible 911 services. From 2010-2018, Strauss oversaw the implementation of many of these laws as Deputy Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission. Prior to that time, Strauss was legal counsel for Gallaudet University’s National Center for Law and Deafness, the National Association of the Deaf, and consultant for various providers of accessibility services. Strauss frequently has been called upon to testify before Congress as an expert witness on accessibility legislation and to present at national and international conferences. Strauss’s 2006 book – A New Civil Right: Telecommunications Equality for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Americans – provides an in-depth look at the first forty years of telecom advocacy by Americans who are deaf and hard of hearing. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Strauss also holds an L.L.M from the Georgetown University Law Center and an honorary doctorate degree from Gallaudet University, the latter for her work to expand communications access. Among Strauss’s many awards are those received from Public Knowledge, the National Consumers League, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc., the National Association of the Deaf, and the D.C. Mayor’s Office.
More information: Karen Peltz Strauss
Jason Taylor (2021)
Jason C. Taylor is the Chief Strategist at ISL and Advisor to the UsableNet CEO with 20 years of experience in usability and accessibility. He is a global technology leader for multichannel customer engagement, actively advising leading companies on how to extend their brands across multiple channels for all users. He has been an active member of the accessibility and usability communities since 2000 which started with leading partnerships between UsableNet, Macromedia (now Adobe) and The Nielsen Norman Group along with the product development of the UsableNet’s first Accessibility Testing platform in 2000.
More information: Jason Taylor
Minh N. Vu (2020)
Minh Vu is a partner in Seyfath Shaw, LLP's firm's Washington, D.C. office and the leader of the firm’s ADA Title III Specialty Practice Team. Ms. Vu’s national practice focuses exclusively on the legal obligations of places of public accommodation, recipients of federal assistance, government contractors, and housing providers to individuals with disabilities under Title III of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Fair Housing Act (FHA), and various state non-discrimination statutes. A litigator by training, Ms. Vu served as Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice where she oversaw the enforcement of the ADA before returning to private practice in 2004. Ms. Vu is a recognized thought leader, counselor, and litigator on ADA Title III issues and has defended hundreds of website accessibility claims. She has also represented clients such as Hilton Worldwide, Wells Fargo Bank, Peapod, and edX in precedent-setting DOJ investigations involving website accessibility. Ms. Vu also is the editor of and a primary contributor to Seyfarth’s ADA Title III News & Insights blog. She has been quoted as a subject matter expert in many publications such as the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and The Economist, and recently appeared on Fox Business to speak about the surge in website accessibility lawsuits.
More information: Minh N. Vu
Yuval Wagner (2021)
Yuval Wagner was a Lieutenant Colonel Air Force combat helicopter pilot. Due to a flight accident Yuval is a quadriplegic paralyzed neck down, and wheelchair user. Yuval is a Founder and Chair of Access Israel, promoting accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities and the elderly in all areas of life. Yuval is an expert consultant of accessible services for People with Disabilities, with 20 years' experience. An accessibility innovator and leader, he promotes future technology accessibility both in Israel and Internationally.
More information: Yuval Wagner
Léonie Watson (2021)
Léonie is a Director at TetraLogical, member of the W3C Advisory Board, co-Chair of the W3C Web Applications and HTML working groups, and member of the BIMA Inclusive Design Council. With more than 25 years' experience working for organisations including Nomensa, The Paciello Group, and Government Digital Service, Léonie is a respected member of the web community. Naturally hard-working and organised, she has spent time managing complex web projects, as well as working in her habitual capacity as accessibility engineer. In 2018, Microsoft recognised her contribution to the field of accessibility by making her one of the first Most Valued Professionals (MVP) outside of the Microsoft community.
More information: Léonie Watson.
Angela Winfield (2021)
Angela Winfield is chief diversity officer for the Law School Admission Council. In this role, she provides leadership, vision, energy, and a unified philosophy to LSAC’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts on behalf of member law schools and the students who seek a career in law. Prior to her current position, Winfield was associate vice president for inclusion and workforce diversity at Cornell University, where she led the university’s affirmative action and federal contractor compliance programs, managed the university’s five identity/affinity-based colleague network groups, provided training opportunities for the 7,000+ member staff, oversaw religious accommodations, and served on the university’s ADA coordinator team. Winfield is a certified leadership coach and motivational speaker and has presented to companies including 3M, Société Générale, and LexisNexis. She also is an advisory board member for the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, serves on the board of trustees for Cayuga Community College, and sits on the board of directors for The Rev Theatre Company, Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight Foundation, and Success Beyond Sight. Winfield earned her JD from Cornell Law School and is admitted to the New York bar. She earned her BA from Barnard College of Columbia University.
More information: Angela Winfield.