Nairobi – The Inclusive Africa Conferences— which opened at the Trademark Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya on May 25- 26—began with the historic launch of the first-ever National ICT Accessibility Standard for products and services in Africa, and was followed by two days of high level discussions led by over 30 accessibility champions from all over Africa and the world. The keynote and speaker faculty included global leaders and high-tech innovators from Mastercard Foundation, Google, Meta, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and more.

“The Inclusive Africa Conference was launched by inABLE in 2020 to discuss the best way forward for digital accessibility in inclusive employment, education, ICT policies, financial services, digital innovations, and mobile assistive technology”, explains inABLE Executive Director Irene Mbari-Kirika. “This conference will be made accessible through live captions, sign language and translation in English and French and other assistive accommodations.”

Over 200 in-person delegates from across the globe attended the conference, as well as thousands more remote attendees via a virtual-event that was live streamed, and in attendance at 20 African county watch parties. The 2022 conference was sponsored by Mastercard Foundation, Google, Meta and Microsoft. Registration was required to attend.

Among the confirmed speakers are:

• Phil Cotton, Human Capital Development, Mastercard Foundation, Ghana
• Christopher Patnoe, EMEA lead for Accessibility and Disability Inclusion, Google, USA
• Mercy Ndegwa, Head of Policy, East & Horn of Africa Region, Meta
• Jenny Lay-Furrie, Chief Accessibility Officer, Microsoft, USA
• Ambrose Murangira, Disability Inclusion Advisor, Light for the World, Uganda
• Karen Smit, Principal Specialist: Special Needs Products, Vodacom, South Africa
• Christopher Lee, VP & Managing Director, International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), USA
• Bernard Chiira, Director, Innovate Now Assistive Tech Accelerator, Kenya
• Jennison Asuncion, Head of Accessibility Engineering, LinkedIn, USA

Haben Girma, an American disability rights lawyer of Eritrean descent is slated to give one of the keynote addresses. She is bringing her specially trained seeing-eye dog Milo to demonstrate this invaluable accessibility support. Haben is the first deaf blind person to graduate from Harvard Law School and is a respected advocate for equal opportunities for people with disabilities.

To learn more about the Inclusive Africa Conference agenda, 2022-speaker faculty, and to register go to https://www.inclusiveafrica.org/