by Daniel Parker, RDPFS Contributor:
The Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired will host its fifth annual Sight Tech Global conference on December 4 and 5, 2024. Its theme is “Shaping New Technologies to Create a More Accessible World for People with Blindness and Visual Impairments.” According to the Vista Center, “Sight Tech Global is the first global, virtual conference dedicated to fostering discussion among technology pioneers on how rapid advances in AI and related technologies will fundamentally alter the landscape of assistive technology and accessibility.” Originally started in 2020 as a fundraiser for the organization, the first conference attracted 4,000 viewers from 71 countries, according to CEO Karae Lisle. It has since grown to feature a wide range of companies, speakers and panelists from the accessibility and tech worlds, fostered by the Center’s proximity to Silicon Valley in California. Sessions are pre-recorded, streamed from the Center during the conference, and then posted on their YouTube channel for viewing on demand. The 2024 roster of speakers includes accessibility personnel from companies and services as diverse as The American Printing House for the Blind (APH), Be My Eyes, Intel, Seeing AI, and Yahoo; accessibility professionals from the University of California, Davis and the University of California, Santa Cruz; and many others, with more to be announced. There will be no question-and-answer sessions at this conference. However, questions and answers sessions are part of the Vista Center’s monthly assistive technology presentation called Tech It Out, where “industry speakers present the latest accessibility technology devices and trends.” This ongoing program is held in-person and as a Zoom webinar. More information can be found at the links above, which will be updated frequently. Here is the link to register for the conference.
