One-day digital accessibility conference

Creating a space where accessibility is a given

Wednesday 13th May 2026

Catalyst Building, Newcastle Upon Tyne

£154 plus booking fee per person

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Meet the speakers

Carrie-Ann Lightly (she/her)

Carrie-Ann is our keynote speaker. She is talking about Authentic Inclusive Storytelling: The Power of Diverse Voices to Drive Real Change.
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Matisse Hamel-Nelis (she/her)

Matisse Hamel-Nelis is an award-winning communications and digital accessibility consultant, author and PR professor at Durham College
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Martin Underhill (he/him)

Martin Underhill is an accessibility consultant with over a decade of experience working on accessible digital products.
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Lisa Riemers (she/her)

Lisa Riemers is an independent communications consultant, author and accessibility advocate who helps clients connect their people and tell their stories.
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Simon Ellis (he/him)

Simon is a Strategic Accessibility Project Manager at Appspace, dedicated to the ‘Accessible by Design’ philosophy.
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Elza Parisa (she/her)

Elza is CareScribe’s Assistive Technology Consultant. She'll be talking about why live captioning helps everyone listen, learn, and remember
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Samantha Merrett (she/her)

Samantha (she/her) is a Senior Accessibility Specialist at the Ministry of Justice, specialising in accessible documents and inclusive content design.
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Jane McFadyen (she/her)

Jane (she/her) is a senior content designer at DWP Digital and a published author. She's a specialist in dyscalculia awareness.
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Jo Larby (she/her)

Jo is the Accessibility Community Lead at Leighton, and she's joining our panel.

Nathan Rowland (he/him)

Nathan is a digital adoption specialist at Sunderland Software City, and he's joining our panel.

Kim Anderson (she/her)

Kim is a service design specialist and educator at Service Design Academy, and she's joining our panel.

Katie Taylor-Thompson (she/her)

Katie is a content writer and strategist, and she's hosting our panel.

Meet our partners

Captioning Partner:

CareScribe Logo

Multimedia Partner:

Affinity Media Logo

Partner:

Sunderland Software City

Sensory Room Partner:

Eventua11y Logo
Learn more about our partners
Two women, Helen and Holly, who both have brown hair. Holly has glasses. Helen, on the left, is speaking at a podium labeled “The Catalyst” in front of an audience, with stage lighting and curtains behind them.
Ettie, a white woman with blonde hair, stands at a podium on a stage, addressing a seated audience in a modern lecture theatre. Rows of attendees sit in tiered seating, some taking notes or looking toward the stage, with professional lighting and curved wooden wall panels framing the space.
People sitting around tables in a casual discussion setting inside a modern venue, with “Theatre” signage visible in the background.

Want to know what to expect at Access:Given?
Watch our highlights from 2025.

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