Disability and Access in Tech and AI Summit

The Disability and Access in Tech and AI Summit, powered by YAI, is our annual conference to discuss issues around accessibility, including research, identity, and policy.

The goal of the event is to bring together voices from within Cornell University (faculty, staff, students, and alumni) and build connections with organizations in and around New York City to enhance engagement. This is the first iteration of what we hope to become an annual event, forging community building on campus/across our campuses and with the broader New York City community.

This 1.5-day conference takes place on October 9-10, 2025, at the Verizon Executive Education Center on the Cornell Tech campus. The first day will be fully in-person with a series of inspiring presentations, as well as panels and interactive sessions to discuss and engage around topics of accessibility. The second day takes place remotely (via Zoom) to allow people who have difficulty reaching our campus to engage with another set of speakers. While the schedule is getting populated, we welcome proposals for talks or interactive sessions from students, faculty, staff, and alumni focused on one of the three pillars of our event: research, identity, and policy.

Confirmed speakers include faculty from Cornell and Cornell Tech, alumni who run public-facing NGOs, local community representatives, and leaders involved in informing and making policy around accessibility in NYC.

Register for the event

Keynotes

• Opening Keynote – Thursday, October 9: Shiri Azenkot (associate professor of Information Science at Cornell Tech)
• Opening Keynote – Friday, October 10: Jennifer Mankoff (Richard E. Ladner Professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington)