Let me help you become an accessibility champion

I'm Nicolas Steenhout, a keynote speaker and trainer on the topics of accessibility and inclusion. I approach accessibility in a pragmatic, fun, no-nonsense way.

I've worked with thousands of disabled people. I understand their needs and how they use the web. I've helped a wide range of companies and organizations embrace accessibility.

Nicolas Steenhout, a middle aged white guy with short hair, glasses, and no beard. He's viewed from the waist up and has his hands open in front of him. He's speaking.

Helping you and your organization shift towards a culture of accessibility that will open markets and reduce legal liability. Plus it's the right thing to do!

Speaker reel

Video Transcript

Nicolas Steenhout. Speaker/Trainer/Accessibility Expert.

Nic Steenhout
You can become an accessibility champion. By becoming a champion, disabled people will be able to function on the web just like everyone else. What's accessibility? It's the inclusive practice of building websites that are usable by everyone, regardless of level of ability for disability. A non accessible environment, that's the problem. The problem is not using a wheelchair.

Denis Boudreau
I had the pleasure of working with Nic Steenhout in events that I've organized. One of the things that I really like about what Nic contributes to a conference is his perspective. He allows the audience to really understand with very down to earth, concrete, pragmatic examples how to get the job done.

Nic Steenhout
I've been involved in web accessibility for a good number of years, I do mostly consulting with nonprofit organizations and government organizations in the States and in Europe, helping making barrier free web. Digital accessibility work is not really about removing steps or making doors wider. But the concepts are the same. If you have a website that doesn't have image description, someone who's blind and using a screen reader, they won't be able to access the website.

Carie Fisher
Nic has a unique ability to captivate and engage participants from the very beginning of his talk. What truly stood out was the impact he had on our audience.

Nic Steenhout
We all have responsibilities, you know, we can all be superheroes and fix the web. So it's not just the responsibility of the developer. It's the responsibility of people with disabilities. And every single other stakeholders in the process.

Sharron Rush
He engages the audience and the attendees in a way that is very rare. He does what he does with humor.

Joe Dolson
Nic Steenhout is an engaging speaker, with a breadth of experience that's hard to match.

Nic Steenhout
You don't have to be an accessibility expert to make a positive difference in the lives of potentially millions of disabled people. What it comes down to, I think, for me, is education and awareness building from people with disabilities, to the developers, to the stakeholders, to the site owners. I like to think in terms of accessibility is to make websites usable by everyone, regardless of disability status, because we develop permanent disabilities, we develop temporary disabilities. Digital accessibility is a tech solution to a human problem. And I'm not saying that disabled people are a problem far from it. What I'm saying is, the problem is using a wheelchair when the only way in has steps! It the right thing to do. In this day and age corporations want to act ethically. And that really comes down to it. It's the right thing to do. If the environment is broken, we have a problem. If the tech is broken, we have a problem. We have to fix the environment. We have to fix the tech. And to do that we need to know there is a problem. And that's where you the champion come in. See the issues. Raise the issues. Be the squeaky wheel. Because when you do that, things are going to start to become accessible. Because it's about independence. It's about dignity. It's about humanity. Be part of the solution.

Booking info

Nicolas Steenhout
nic@nicolas-steenhout.com
nicolas-steenhout.com

The state of accessibility on the web is abysmal. Of the top 1,000,000 websites, each page has an average of 57 accessibility defects having a notable impact on disabled end users. Your website or web application probably presents barriers to your disabled clients and users.

Good news: You can fix that!

Fixing accessibility for your digital products will require work, and a shift in organization culture. It is not easy, and it doesn't happen overnight. Let me help you on your journey!

Testimonials

  • Really great talk that left me mildly horrified about my own sites as I could immediately think of examples where I had been unknowingly doing things wrong. Nic brought many things to my attention that I had not thought of before and moving forward I feel this session will improve my coding and accessibility practices dramatically.
    Crysta McKenney
  • Excellent talk! Really opened my eyes to how many different ways people with disabilities navigate the web and what we can do to improve upon their experiences.
    Michael Sullivan
  • Fantastic speaker! I appreciated the stories that emphasized the importance of accessibility. Plenty of resources provided on where and how to get started with accessibility practices.
    Stephanie O’Neill