Agenda
June 8, 2026
Unified main stage
Opening Ceremonies and Land Acknowledgement
A Word from Deloitte and Introduction of Keynote
Global Accessibility Awareness Day began with a single blog post in 2011 calling for the technology industry to pay attention to digital accessibility. Fifteen years later, GAAD is recognized worldwide and has helped shift how organizations, developers, designers, and policy makers think about accessibility in the digital products and services that shape daily life. This segment marks the 15th GAAD and connects its global momentum to the work this summit represents. Jennison Asuncion, co-founder of GAAD and chair of the GAAD Foundation, will reflect on what the movement has accomplished, what has changed in how the world approaches digital accessibility, and where the conversation needs to go next.
AODA Compliance and Accessibility Requirements
Rory Burke, Director of the AODA Compliance Assurance Branch at the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility, will speak about the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, bringing awareness of the benefits and obligations related to the various accessibility requirements under the AODA and what the province is doing to help organizations comply.
IAAP Canadian Chapter Introduction
Accessibility is no longer a compliance conversation happening at the edges of an organization. It is becoming a leadership question, embedded in how decisions are made about products, services, hiring, technology investment, and brand. Yet across sectors, the people who shape those decisions rarely sit in the same room together to talk about it. This panel brings together senior leaders from across the accessibility ecosystem to examine what it actually takes to move accessibility from a stated value to an operational reality. The conversation will explore where leadership accountability lives today, what is changing as artificial intelligence reshapes how products are built, and how organizations can move past awareness toward measurable inclusion outcomes. Panelists will share what they are seeing inside their own organizations and across the industry: where progress is happening, where it is stalling, and what the next chapter of accessibility leadership needs to look like in Canada and beyond.
Audience Q&A
Afternoon tracks
From Audit to Action: Why Accessibility Efforts Stall and How Teams Move Forward