Karen Hawkins is a Human Factors engineer and a certified accessibility professional with more than 13 years of experience. She is a member of the IAAP OPDC (International Association of Accessibility Professional Organizational Professional Development Committee) Career Pathways Working Group, as well as a member of the W3C’s Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Matrix (ARRM) Working Group. As both a user experience designer and director, she honed her skills leading multi-disciplinary teams in creating digital solutions for leading global companies. Today, she leads the accessible design practice at Level Access, teaching customers and colleagues alike to apply accessible design thinking to all their work.
Past Talks
10 October 2024
Product teams are harnessing the power that design systems offer, creating digital solutions efficiently, consistently, and at scale. But, as teams move towards this level of maturity, are they similarly maturing in their application of accessibility into their processes and output? Sadly, many design systems are failing to address the needs of all audiences. From tokens to annotations, each step in the creation of a design system must consider and incorporate digital accessibility. Teams are facing issues regarding who is responsible for which aspects of accessibility, and where and how to document accessibility considerations. In this forum we will openly discuss how product teams can incorporate more accessibility
considerations into their design systems.
9 October 2024
Join our expert panel, hosted by Patrick Mooney, as they dive into the game-changing EU accessibility standards and their impact on UX and development professionals. Featuring insights from Karen Hawkins (Level Access), Gareth Crossan, and Mick (Optum), this session bridges the gap between compliance requirements and practical implementation. Discover how these new regulations are reshaping the digital landscape and learn actionable steps to prioritise accessibility in your work, whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned professional in the field.
Key Outcomes/Learnings:
- Understanding the implications of the EU accessibility requirements for UX, development, and product teams
- Practical strategies to integrate accessibility into existing workflows and design systems
- Debunking common myths about accessibility and its impact on creativity
- Actionable steps to start prioritising accessibility immediately
- Insights into the future of accessibility and its potential to drive innovation
