This session will help both people with and without disabilities learn more about the experiences of assistive technology learners, the barriers and roadblocks they encounter and how peer support, well-designed documentation and mindful learning practices can empower them to pursue their goals.
Deque’s guest speaker Chancey Fleet, will explore the contributions developers, designers, tech trainers, peers and other allies can make toward creating a more hospitable ecosystem for assistive technology learners.
Chancey Fleet, a Brooklyn-based accessibility advocate, coordinates technology education programs at the New York Public Library’s Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library.
Before joining the NYPL staff, Chancey co-founded the branch’s volunteer-powered technology coaching service, which pairs novice users of accessible technology with confident mentors who use accessibility features every day.
In 2016, Chancey and her colleagues received an NYPL Innovation Grant for Dimensions, a project that equips the community with free workshops and tools that blind and sighted people can use to make accessible raised-line graphics and 3d models for STEM activities, accessible representations of art, mapping and anything else library patrons would like to create.
Chancey was recognized as a 2017 Library Journal Mover and Shaker. She was a 2018-2019 Fellow and is now an affiliate-in-residence at Data and Society Research Institute, where she engages in direct advocacy, conducts peer education and convenes community conversations about privacy, data transparency and ownership issues in Internet-connected accessibility tools. She proudly serves as the Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind of New York (NFB.org), part of a nationwide civil rights organization that believes in the power of blind people to transform their dreams into reality. Follow her @ChanceyFleet on Twitter!