Speakers
Matisse Hamel-Nelis
Matisse Hamel-Nelis is an award-winning communications and digital accessibility consultant, author and PR professor at Durham College. Based in Toronto, Canada, she also founded and hosts the PR & Lattes podcast and is the past Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee for the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
What if we are the users? Applying accessibility and inclusion to how we work together
We spend our days building accessible digital services and creating clear information our users need, but what happens while we’re doing the work? When we consider internal communication and collaboration, WE ARE the users – and we have our own needs too. This talk explores how accessibility and inclusion principles apply to our everyday internal practices.
In this session, Matisse and Lisa will share practical ways to weave accessibility into our daily lives. From the meetings we run, the emails we write to the ways we can collaborate more effectively. You'll learn why "I know who I'm sending this to" is a risky assumption, how clear communication practices benefit entire teams, and why procurement decisions affect who can participate in your workplace.
Whether you're working in digital services, managing teams, or just want to collaborate better, you'll leave with practical changes you can implement immediately; because accessible practices make work better for everyone.
Key takeaways:
- Practical meeting practices that include diverse working styles
- Writing internal communications that people actually read and understand
- Creating collaboration practices that don't leave people behind
- Making accessibility part of tool selection and procurement
- Why inclusive internal practices improve team effectiveness for everyone