Conference on Accessibility – Zero Project

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World Conference on Accessibility in Vienna

ZeroCon22 is now considered the most important conference on accessibility. We experienced why this is so:

The organizer

The Zero Project, funded by the Essl Foundation, supports the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and advocates for a world without barriers – i.e. zero barriers.

The organization serves as a platform for innovative and effective solutions to problems faced by people with disabilities in everyday life.
This has resulted in a worldwide network of organizations from all areas of society, which each year finds, awards and communicates innovative, effective and scalable projects. ZeroCon, the conference on accessibility, plays an important role in this.

Conference on Accessibility

The Zero Conference on accessibility has already been taking place for nine years.
By now it traditionally takes place at the premises of the United Nations in Vienna.
Over three days, there is a packed, exciting program and many opportunities for personal exchange.

It goes without saying that the conference itself is barrier-free, for speakers and participants alike:

• All event rooms, podiums and catering stations are easily usable with wheelchairs.
• The conference rooms offer inductive hearing systems.
• There are live “translations” for all presentations in sign language as well as in “captioning” (i.e. in text form).
• Blind and visually impaired participants can consume room descriptions and agenda in audio format.

The conference is also financially barrier-free: participation is free thanks to the Essl Foundation!

The conference agenda of ZeroCon – in audio format – with NFC and the free SpeechCode app.

Variety of topics

The Zero Conference on accessibility focuses on the following main topics in a 4-year cycle:

Employment, Accessibility, Independent Living and Political Participation, and Education. Additionally, ICT and innovations in accessible arts education are on the agenda every year.

An annual highlight are the awards for innovative projects. Since the beginning, more than 700 initiatives and projects from all over the world have received the Zero Project Award.

More information about activities and awarded projects are available in the Zero Project Report 2022.

Participants

Hardly any conference on accessibility is as international as the ZeroCon.

In 2020, just before the outbreak of the covid pandemic, there were 800 international participants and speakers from 80 countries: Large advocacy groups, small NGOs, administrative bodies, governmental and cultural institutions, press and many companies from all over the world meet here for exchange.

With the common goal:

A world without barriers for all!

Good mood despite Covid security measures at ZeroCon22 – also thanks to masks in Zero Project green!

Our conclusion

If you appreciate a truly international network, are interested in innovative ideas and are looking for concentrated knowledge on the topic, ZeroCon is the place to be.

For us, the best conference on accessibility!

You can find the live videos of ZeroCon22 here.