Speaking at UX Singapore 2014

By far the farthest-from-home of my speaking engagements to date, I’m thrilled to be speaking at UXSG (User Experience Singapore). Having attended its sister event, UX Hong Kong (UXHK), last year I can say that I am excited not just to speak but to hear from all the other great speakers who will be imparting wisdom, knowledge, and perhaps a few local dining suggestions.

For those not familiar with it, UXSG is a three day event intended to onnect UX professionals across disciplines and cultures. As one of the founders of evolt.org (way back in 1998), this statement from the conference organizers resonates with me: It is a platform made for and by UX professionals to foster stronger professional collaborations and personal friendships. Given that I made some great connections as an attendee at UXHK, I don’t doubt I’ll have a similar experience here.

I will be giving a lightning talk on the third day of the conference, Friday, October 3, at 11:00am Singapore time. I’ll be updating my “Selfish Accessiblity” talk for the UX audience. The abstract of my talk:

We can all pretend that we’re helping others by making web sites and software accessible, but we are really making the experience better for our future selves. Learn some fundamentals of web and software accessibility and how it can benefit you (whether future you from aging or you after something else limits your abilities). We’ll review simple testing techniques, basic features and enhancements, coming trends, and where to get help. This isn’t intended to be a deep dive, but more of an overall primer for those who aren’t sure where to start nor how it helps them.

Insights include:

• Broader context for how all users are or will be disabled, whether temporarily or permanently.
• Basic tests and best practices that can be integrated into development team workflows to make interfaces accessible.
• Introduction to standards and tools already available.

I’ve been to Singapore once before, but only for a day. This time I am looking forward to spending a little more time there and, in particular, experiencing the venue for the event, the relatively new Star Performing Arts Centre. I’ve embedded a map, but if you aren’t attending then the map isn’t very useful since it shows the building as it was during construction (depending on which view you choose):