Web For All 2017

The Future of Accessible Work

In 2017, W4A will be held in Perth, Western Australia. According to many, Perth is the most isolated capital city in the world, with the nearest city of over one million people being over 2000 km away. With expanding globalisation, work is becoming less of a local activity, with many now working on teams spread over great distances. In recognition of these trends, the theme for 14th International Web for All Conference is “The Future of Accessible Work”.

Inclusive work environments have the potential to greatly improve the ability of people to obtain and maintain meaningful employment, despite disabilities or other impairments. Organisations and employers are also embracing the benefits of being more inclusive in their human resource management. More flexible working arrangements — such as telecommuting for remote employees, better access to remote work technologies, access to better data platforms, and employees using their own devices (BYOD) — are just a few of the possibilities that employers are exploring.

Creating an inclusive work environment could include developing new accessible technologies usable by people with and without disabilities; improving the way existing technologies are deployed; ensuring that staff embrace an inclusive culture in the workplace; and of course, understanding the needs of people with disabilities in the workforce. We can work towards implementing more functional Intranet and public-facing websites, and developing applications that are more inclusive and enable people with disabilities to participate more easily.

We particularly welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following topics.

• Using social media in the workplace in an accessible manner that enhances inclusivity
• Harnessing the power of Intranets to enable a more productive experience for people with and without disabilities
• Accessible productivity tools
• Creating adaptable work environments
• Accessible web-based data analysis
• Access to collaborative online work environments including:
  o    Accessible synchronous communication for distributed teams,
  o    Inclusive conferencing technologies
  o    Connectivity that enables people with and without disabilities to work off site
• Web-based assistive technologies that enable more employees to participate
• Access to employment records and human resource management
• Implementing effective strategy, policy and processes for workplace accessibility
• Eliminating workplace barriers
• Benefits of workforce diversity
• Creating more inclusive documents and authoring tools
• Education and training in digital inclusion

As is true every year, don’t be deterred by the theme; other related papers dealing with digital accessibility and universal access are also welcome. These might include, but are not limited to: aging, cognition, culture, dexterity, disability, diversity, health, income, infrastructure, language and mobility, inclusivity, universal design, assistive technology engineering, content transformation, user modeling, wearable technologies, mobile web and more; we invite your best work that advances our understanding of access for people across the accessibility continuum.

Students are encouraged to attend W4A. Travel scholarships and awards available for eligible students!

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