12. OBI Tech Talk: Accessibility Edition

Demystifying WCAG (WCA-what?): Essential Accessibility Insights for Developers, Product People, and Decision Makers.

Are you a developer or product manager aiming to make your digital products accessible but unsure where to start? Perhaps you’re a decision-maker wondering how upcoming accessibility laws will impact your business. With new regulations coming to Germany in 2025, understanding the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is more important than ever.

Join us at this month’s OBI Tech Talk with Nicky Krusch (OBI) and Daniel Clasen (Qvest Digital) to:
• Decode WCAG: Break down the guidelines into practical terms relevant to your work.
• Learn Continuous Accessibility: Inspired by Melanie Sumner’s concept, explore the 2025 roadmap for delivering accessible, user-centered digital products by managing legacy code, crafting new applications inclusively from the start, and establishing metrics to track progress.
• Prepare for Compliance: Learn actionable steps to align with legal requirements and avoid last-minute scrambles.

Accessibility isn’t just a legal obligation—it’s a strategic advantage. Don’t miss this opportunity to equip yourself with the knowledge to create better, more inclusive products for all.

Please only register if you are actually planning to come !!!

Agenda
6:00 PM - Open Doors: check in, grab a drink and meet other tech enthusiasts.
6:30 PM - 1. Talk: Accessibility @OBI , Nicky Krusch
7:10 PM - Short Break
7:20 PM - 2. Talk: Continuous Accessibility in a Nutshell - Daniel Clasen
8:00 PM - Open end discussion, socialising & pizza!

More about the speakers and presentations:

1. Talk - Accessibility @OBI
Many people mention it and others have heard about it: „Our digital products need to be accessible“ … but barely anyone knows why, what it is exactly and where to even start.
We’d like to look at the broad spectrum of users that are dependent on accessibility, the laws that will come into effect in Germany in 2025 & what we (and I mean everyone) can already do today, in order to meet the standards. Meet them for our users & to make our products accessible for everyone (while also avoiding sensitive finds & the headless chicken panic mode :D).

Nicole Krusch
Nicky is an illustrator, Visual Designer and currently working as Frontend Developer with main focus on Product Design and Design Systems at Obi Smart Tech Cologne, Germany.
She managed to gather > 9 years of experience in designing and delivering customer centered solutions for leading aviation clients, automotive clients, e-commerce clients, multinational engineering and electronics companies, personal care brands and a multinational financial services holding company.
Nicky holds a Diploma in Communication Design from the Institute of Design in Düsseldorf. Next to her day to day work as a digital designer & frontend developer Nicky is also a passionate illustrator with love for analogue products.

2. Talk - Continuous Accessibility in a Nutshell
Accessibility as a whole and in the context of scaled development organizations is often conceptually misunderstood or simply underestimated. Furthermore, we can express the problem statement more precise as: "Comprehensive accessibility conformance for digital products represents an unsolved, complex problem and known to be without a reliable, transparent route to success."

Wow, that's a bummer - but wait, that's not the end of it!

This talk addresses this issue and presents a holistic approach to tackling this exact problem statement within organizations focused on developing digital products or platforms. Inspired by Melanie Sumner’s concept of “Continuous Accessibility”, we will discuss what's on the 2025 roadmap to deliver accessible, user-centered digital products: managing legacy code, crafting new applications inclusively from the get-go, and establishing metrics to track progress and prevent recurring issues. The trick: conceptually, it may already seem quite familiar to us. By deconstructing success criteria into actionable, quality-control mechanisms, this methodology parallels the well-known principles of Continuous Software Engineering.

Daniel Clasen
Daniel is a Technology Consultant and Solution Architect with over 13 years of experience in software development. With a passion for innovative technologies and an agile mindset, he has worked as a full-stack and DevOps engineer on a variety of projects. His focus is on web-based, distributed systems, microservices, SaaS and PaaS. Daniel has also held roles as Scrum Master, PO/PM and Development Manager. His technical expertise and consulting skills enable him to grasp complex situations and develop and communicate concepts and strategies at all levels. His goal is to deliver efficient solutions that add value and empower development teams.

Parking
You can park in front of our main entry (DO NOT PARK NEAR THE E-WERK)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/tuTHXUn8BSUKeBQU8
Here you can find a photo with a detailed description: Main Entry & Parking
Since some gates around the OBI building are locked in the evening, you can leave through the gate at Teltec Köln, Schanzenstraße 29: coordinates

Disclaimer
By attending our meetups you agree that the photos and videos taken during the event can be used in social media platforms like LinkedIn to promote our future events.