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Our Speakers

Access:Given 2025 will have four speakers, sharing their expertise in digital accessibility and inclusion. 

Here are the speakers we have announced so far:

Ettie is a white woman with brown hair. She is wearing a blazer and jumper and smiling outside in front of a wall and buildings.

Keynote Speaker

Ettie Bailey-King(she/her)

  • Ettie is an inclusive and accessible communication educator.
  • She helps people to get clear and confident about using inclusive language, and communicate in a way that’s more accessible to everyone.
  • On the inclusive language side, she helps people use specific, accurate and thoughtful language about issues and identities like age, class, gender, disability, sexual orientation and race (plus many more).
  • On the accessibility side, she teaches people to communicate in a way that works better for autistic, ADHD, blind, d/Deaf, distracted, dyslexic and tired people (and many others).
  • She works with organisations including Amnesty International, Wellcome, Harrods, Decathlon, Vodafone, On, Savills, Global Witness and Girlguiding, helping them to communicate in a way that works better for everybody.
Visit Ettie‘s website to learn more about her, connect with her on LinkedIn, Instagram and BluSky

Craig Abbott (he/him)

  • Craig is the former Head of Accessibility at the Department for Work and Pensions and the creator of the DWP Accessibility Manual.

  • He is a design lead and accessibility specialist, and my focus is user centred design.

  • He is autistic and has ADHD. He is passionate about breaking down the stigma of mental health and neurodivergence,

  • His talk is called: “If it’s not user-centred, it’s not accessible” and it covers how digital accessibility is more than just ticking off the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.)

  • In this talk, Craig will explore why accessibility must be centred around people, not just a test to pass or a task to complete. He’ll discuss gaps in current standards, highlight the importance of lived experiences, and share practical ways to create truly inclusive digital products that work for everyone.

Visit Craig’s website to learn more about him. 

Rachel is a smiling woman with long, wavy, gray-streaked dark hair and light skin. She is wearing black cat-eye glasses, a nose stud, and a green beaded necklace. The background is a dark, blurred surface, and the photo is framed in a rounded, circular crop.

Rachel Edwards (she/her)

  • Rachel is a senior content designer at Content Design London.

  • Before moving into content design, she worked at the Scottish Parliament supporting the Justice and Equalities and Human Rights Committees where she practiced a human rights based approach to engagement.

  • As a content designer, she shares how helping people access information enables their human rights. Rachel has also written and spoken about children’s rights to accessible information.

  • An expert in trauma-informed design, Rachel specialises in using content to help people understand policy, services, and their rights.

  • Alongside having worked extensively in parliament, government, and for private sector clients, Rachel is the editor of Designed with Care: Creating trauma-informed content and the co-author of Content Design, second edition with Sarah Winters.

Visit Content Design London‘s website to learn more, and find Rachel on LinkedIn. 

Helen and Holly sitting on a sofa together and smiling, in front of a brick wall with a pink neon light shining onto it and a plant in the corner. Helen sits on the left, she has shoulder length, wavy brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a faded blue t shirt, blue jeans and a silver necklace, while Holly is sat on the right, she has straight, dark brown hair and a fringe. She’s wearing a black and white stripy top and black glasses

Helen Dutson (she/her) and Holly Tuke (she/her)

  • Holly is disability advocate, social media accessibility champion at RNIB and blogger at Life of a Blind Girl.

  • Helen is a creativity and accessibility advocate, who’s worked on accessible and boundary-pushing campaigns with RNIB, Specsavers, Bodyform and many more.

View Helen and Holly on LinkedIn.

Pay It Forward Tickets

Because we don’t want to exclude anyone from attending, we’ve also introduced the option for people to buy a Pay it Forward ticket.

What is Pay It Forward?

This is a ticket you buy – and donate – for someone else to use.

Each Pay it Forward ticket will be kept aside and allocated to someone who applies for one. The application form will go live on our website later on.

Apply for a Pay It Forward Ticket