Access:Given 2026
Access:Given 2026 took place on Wednesday 13th May at the Catalyst, Newcastle Helix.
You can watch all of the talks for free on our YouTube channel.
Our 2026 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.
Matisse Hamel-Nelis (she/her)
Matisse Hamel-Nelis is an award-winning communications and digital accessibility consultant, author and PR professor at Durham College
Martin Underhill (he/him)
Martin Underhill is an accessibility consultant with over a decade of experience working on accessible digital products.
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.
Simon Ellis (he/him)
Simon is Accessibility Lead at Atos, dedicated to the ‘Accessible by Design’ philosophy.
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
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.
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.
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.
Our 2026 partners
Partner:
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Captioning Partner:
Multimedia Partner:
Sensory Room Partner:
