Dear all please consider submitting and attending. Yours Jan / Gulan _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ International Conference on Accessibility – AccessCoVE2026 Digital conference (only online participation) taking place June 29-30, 2026, Registration free of charge News in short: - May 30 deadline for late submissions - Keynote speakers announced: Jonathan Lazar on Methods and tools for Born Accessible Design - Keynote speakers announced: Ashley Shew and Chorong Park for Technoableism and Technoageism - Conference web site: https://accesscove.org/accesscove2026/ - Submissions: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=accesscove2026 Keynote speakers announced Title: Methods and Tools for Born-Accessible Design Speaker: Jonathan Lazar Abstract: Digital technologies, applications, websites, and documents are often created without considering accessibility for people with disabilities. Often, the inaccessible technologies or content are remediated for accessibility after development, remediated for accessibility only when there is a complaint from a person with a disability, or are never remediated for accessibility. Remediating technologies after-the-fact is not a cost-effective approach, and the time delay between when digital technologies and content are built and released and when they are made accessible can itself be a form of societal discrimination. For years, disability rights groups have demanded born-accessible design, and some government policies are starting to require it, yet the research literature in human-computer interaction and user experience does not yet define born-accessible design or any methods for it. This presentation will focus on describing our work on born-accessible design in two areas: tools and methods. We have been collaborating with Adobe on developing software tools with interventions to support content creators in adding accessibility markup and attributes during their workflow, leading to the creation of born-accessible content which needs no remediation. And on a broader level, we have been working with disability rights groups, technology companies, and policymakers, to build a methodological framework for implementing born-accessible design.  Biosketch: Jonathan Lazar is a Professor in the College of Information at the University of Maryland, where he is the founding director of the Maryland Initiative for Digital Accessibility (MIDA) and is a faculty member in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL). He is currently on sabbatical leave from UMD and is a visiting professor at the University of Toronto and a visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge. He has previously authored or edited 19 books and published over 200 refereed articles in journals, conference proceedings, edited books, and magazines, related to human-computer interaction, user-centered design, accessibility, policy, and law. He has received research funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. National Institute on Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), Google, and Adobe. He is the recipient of the 2024 IAAP Accessibility Initiatives Award, the 2020 ACM SIGACCESS Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computing and Accessibility, and the 2016 ACM SIGCHI Social Impact Award, is a member of the ACM SIGCHI Academy, and served as the general chair of the 2021 ACM ASSETS conference. Title: Technoableism and Technoageism Speakers: Ashley Shew and Chorong Park Abstract: Ableism and ageism deeply influence our conversations, methods, and practices around technology development and deployment. Design for disability and design for older age are often oriented in ways that are at odds with the other and don’t do justice to the contributions of disabled or older people. In this talk, we will unpack some of these biases and underlying assumptions about disability and old age that shape ideas about what people make, how to approach therapy, whose stories get told, and more. We end by highlighting different approaches that attempt address technoableism and technoageism.  Biosketch: Dr. Ashley Shew is a multiply disabled person: tinnitus-buzzing, hard-of-hearing, chemobrained amputee (all due to treatment for bone cancer) with Crohn’s disease (unrelated to bone cancer). She is also a working philosopher of technology and biotech ethicist as a faculty member at Virginia Tech in the Department of Science, Technology, and Society.She has expertise on the subjects of animal studies, disability studies, ethics and emerging technologies, and technological knowledge. She likes the challenge of writing and adapting material for different audiences and communities. Biosketch: Dr. Chorong Park earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Technology with a minor in Gerontology, and her Master of Science in UX Design from Purdue University. Her work connects aging, usability research, and human–computer interaction, with emphasis on AR/VR experiences, AI-powered systems, and social robotics. Drawing on over 500 hours of ethnographic technology support with older adults and collaborations across computer science, health, and the social sciences, she develops strength-based, participatory design frameworks, including the Kansei of the Elderly model, that transform user frustration into autonomy, confidence, and delight. Her publications examine technoageism, ethical companion robotics, and age-centered practical UX. Her portfolio spans adaptive digital postcard interfaces for emotional well-being to ethically grounded companion robots. Park’s research advances practical, user-driven technologies that improve approachability, usability, independence, confidence, and joy for older adults in everyday settings. Call for Papers: Share Your Research and Innovation The AccessCoVE conference aims to be the premier international forum for showcasing cutting-edge research, innovation, and best practices in designing, evaluating, and promoting accessibility for people with disabilities and the elderly. Accessibility is defined as ‘‘the extent to which products, systems, services, environments and facilities are able to be used by a population with the widest range of characteristics and capabilities (e.g. physical, cognitive, financial, social and cultural, etc.), to achieve a specified goal in a specified context (Persson, Ahman, Yngling and Gulliksen, 2015). AccessCoVE is meant to promote accessibility in its widest understanding and welcomes all to participate to have a scholarly conversation, network and discuss emerging topics in the field of accessibility and other related domains. We invite you to submit high-quality, original papers, experience reports/teaching cases and presentations on topics that advance the field of accessibility, with a focus on improving the lives of individuals with disabilities and elderly. Submission Guidelines Papers should present significant contributions to the field, including novel designs, systems, tools, methodologies, or social impact. Relevant areas of focus include: Accessible Design: Designing and evaluating systems, products, and services that are accessible, usable, and desirable for people with disabilities and elderly individuals. Technology for accessibility: Developing and applying new and old technologies to enable accessibility, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the Internet of Things. Accessibility Education: Developing and evaluating effective strategies for teaching accessibility principles and practices to students, professionals, and organizations. Accessibility Evaluation: Developing and applying methods and tools for evaluating the accessibility of systems, products, and services. Societal impact: Investigating the social, economic, and cultural impact of accessibility on individuals, communities, and societies. In line with the motto of “nothing about us without us”, we encourage authors to involve representative users in their research whenever possible, using methodologies such as co-design, participatory design, and value sensitive design. Submission Categories Research Papers Full Papers: Extended papers providing in-depth analysis, evaluation, or exploration of accessibility topics. Literature Reviews: Comprehensive reviews of existing research on specific accessibility topics, providing a critical analysis of the state-of-the-art. Short Papers: Brief papers presenting preliminary results, work-in-progress, or novel ideas in accessibility research. Innovation cases: Experience Reports/Teaching Cases: Papers sharing practical experiences, autobiography, lessons learned, or case studies in accessibility education, training, or practice. Ignite sessions: Short, engaging powerpoint presentations, one pager, showcasing innovative ideas, prototypes, or projects in accessibility. Peer Review and Publication All papers will undergo a rigorous peer-review process by an International Program Committee composed of experts in accessibility research and practice. Papers will be evaluated based on their originality, significance, clarity, novelty and relevance to the field of accessibility. Accepted submissions will be archived in an open, accessible digital library. At least one author of accepted submissions must register as the presenter by the early registration deadline to ensure inclusion in the conference program. Submission deadlines SUBMISSION TYPE DEADLINE Long Papers April 1, 2026 Short Papers May 30, 2026 Literature Reviews April 1, 2026 Experience Report/ Teaching Cases May 30, 2026 Ignite Sessions May 30, 2026 Conference timeline The conference will take place in a digital format on June 29-30, 2026. Language English (including American, British, Canadian, etc., dialects) is the language of the conference and of all submissions. Please follow the guidelines that are essential in presenting accessible content. Pay careful attention to writing style, tone, and language to ensure that your paper is clear, concise, and as accessible as possible (Persson et al., 2015) to a wide range of audiences. Originality Submissions to AccessCoVE must be original; submissions, or highly similar versions, cannot have been published or accepted in another journal or conference proceedings. Further, submissions must not be concurrently under consideration for publication or presentation elsewhere. Template and Formatting Requirements Make sure that your submissions are accessible. Use Ms Accessible checker, for example, before converting your files to PDF. Files submitted in other formats or that do not use the paper submission template will not be considered for review. Length Requirements Each type of submission has specific word length requirements. See additional requirements specific to each type of submission below. Any submission that exceeds page length limits will be rejected without review Anonymize all Submissions for Blind Review Author name(s) should not appear in the body of the paper (including the abstract). Please note that if your paper reveals author names anywhere, they will be early rejected outright without any further review. Eliminate references to your institutions, your sponsors, your unpublished work and your published work if these references will identify any author. To aid in making your paper anonymous, leave Acknowledgement blank until the final version is prepared for the Proceedings. Remove author and institution information from document properties. In MS-Word (prior to converting your file to pdf), (1) click on Tools->Options, and then click on the security tab. Under Privacy Options, select “Remove personal information from file properties on save.” OR (2) click on File->Properties, and then remove Author Information, depending on the version of MS-Word you have. Additional Format Requirements Specific to Each Type of Submission In addition to the general submission requirements, there are additional requirements for each submission type. These are identified below: SUBMISSION TYPE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF WORDS Completed Research Papers 10000 Short Papers 6000 Literature Review 10000 Experience Report/ Teaching case 6000 TREO Talks 1000 The word limit includes the title, body of the paper, figures and tables, references, and appendices. Topics and themes We encourage submissions related to the themes and topics listed below. These examples are provided as inspiration and are not meant to constrain the breadth or creativity of contributions. Universal Design Principles in Practice Inclusive Transportation Systems Accessible Healthcare Design Universal Design for Aging Populations Accessible Independent Living and Active Aging Ambient Assisted Living Accessibility in Smart Cities Accessible Smart Homes Universal Design in Sports Accessibility in Educational Material Accessibility in Educational Environments Accessible Multimodal Environments Accessible Haptic Environments Assistive Social Robotics Accessible VR and AR Applications and Environments Virtual and Augmented Reality for Accessibility Internet of Things accessibility Accessible Physical Environments Accessible digital transformation Accessibility in Research Environments, Procedures, and Data Accessible Gaming: Inclusive Entertainment for All Accessibility in Financial Services Accessibility in Sports, Recreation, and Leisure Activities Accessibility Standards and Guidelines Accessible Web and App Development Accessibility in E-Learning and Digital Education Accessibility Testing and Usability Evaluation Assistive Technology Adaptive Devices Accessibility with Wearable Technology Accessibility in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Workplace Accessibility and Inclusive Employment Laws, Policies, and Advocacy for Accessibility Cultural and Linguistic Accessibility Accessibility in Crisis and Disaster Response Inclusive Communication Design Global Perspectives on Accessibility Accessibility in Arts and Culture Inclusive Media and Broadcasting Accessibility in Higher Education Accessibility in E-Learning and Digital Education Inclusive Design in Tourism and Hospitality Inclusive Architecture and Urban Planning Accessibility in Security and Evacuation Situations But not limited to this. Submission Submissions will be done through our Conference Submission System at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=accesscove2026 A warm welcome Jan Gulliksen, conference co-chair  Jan Gulliksen Professor in Human Computer Interaction KTH Royal Institute of Technology Department of Media Technology and Interaction Design School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Lindstedtsvägen 3, floor 4, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden Mobile: +46 - 730 - 37 39 30 gulliksen@kth.se, www.kth.se
