Maia Miller
Web Accessibility Specialist
Wellington, New Zealand
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Maia is the Managing Director of Aleph Accessibility, a Wellington-based consultancy helping organisations make accessibility part of how digital work gets done. An IAAP-certified web accessibility specialist, she works with product, design and engineering teams to embed accessibility as a way of thinking, building internal capability while providing clear, practical advice. Maia focuses on pragmatic, actionable guidance that fits real delivery environments, making accessibility achievable, realistic and integrated into everyday decisions.
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Topics
Maximising Impact: The Strategic Role of Tech Leaders in Leading Accessibility Efforts
Did you know that 16% of the global population has a disability? That's 1.6 billion people with a spending capacity of $74.6 billion. But accessibility isn't just a legal obligation—it's a strategic advantage: 20% of organisations believe increasing accessibility can expand their customer base, while 63% say it improves the digital experience for all their users. Further, embedding accessibility into digital products leads to more resilient, secure, and scalable code.
In this talk, we will delve into the pivotal role Tech Leaders play in driving successful accessibility strategies. Through compelling case studies, we’ll demonstrate the transformative impact of strong technical leadership on accessibility initiatives. You'll gain practical insights into maximising impact while minimising effort and step-by-step guidance on crafting an effective accessibility strategy.
With stricter legislations being introduced and a growing number of lawsuits worldwide, it's clear that many are falling short. Don't waste time and resources on ineffective tactics. Unlock the advantages of web accessibility so you can create leading, innovative and impactful digital products.
Accessibility + TDD == easy && !impossible
Despite years of dramatic improvements in standards and tooling, many developers are still hesitant to invest too much time and energy into accessibility. There is a widespread myth in the industry that it will be hard work, and that few users would value it anyway.
In this talk, Maia Miller (Accessibility Consultant) & Chris Simon (TDD Trainer) will bust this myth wide open with a combo of live coding and experience of building more accessible and usable websites.
Test-Driven Development encourages writing tests that express the intent of user-meaningful outcomes and coupling those tests to stable public interfaces of the code. For a front-end, the most stable interfaces that capture the user's intention are the accessibility APIs.
Join Maia & Chris and learn how to combine the magic of TDD and accessibility to spend less time building better quality sites that are usable by more people.
Effective workflows for embedding accessibility
A row boat moves best when all its members row in time together. How can different parts of the development workflow implement accessibility to help move the digital ship forward? Importantly, how can each function do so in a way that's resource and time effective?
This talk dives into practical strategies for embedding accessibility at every stage of the development process. Walk through each phase - product, UX design, dev, testing - to see how each function can implement accessibility into its workflow. We'll emphasize streamlined, low-effort (and often free!) approaches, and will look at real-world case studies to support our strategies. Whether you're starting your accessibility journey or looking to optimize your workflows, this session will provide actionable insights to step up your accessibility workflow game!
Accessibility through AI?
Did you know 16% of the global population has a disability? Yet many developers still struggle to meet accessibility standards. Can AI be the answer to making our digital assets more accessible?
This talk explores the benefits and pitfalls of AI in achieving accessibility. We'll look at real world cases of how AI can be used to help accessibility initiatives, and areas where we need to be weary. How can we leverage this new technology to increase access? Hint: it's not what you think!
NDC Melbourne 2025 Sessionize Event
Programmable 2025 - Sydney Sessionize Event
Programmable 2025 - Melbourne Sessionize Event
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