Accessibility Meets Neurodiversity: Designing and Developing with Empathy and Inclusion
About the event
An estimated 15–20% of the U.S. population—around 50 million people—are neurodivergent, with many more undiagnosed. Conditions like autism, ADHD, and dyslexia highlight the diverse ways brains are wired. Yet most software is still built for a “standard” user, leaving many behind.
In this talk, you'll hear a personal journey of navigating software as a neurodivergent user—and how custom frameworks and coping strategies emerged from necessity.
Join us for an eye-opening session that challenges conventional design and offers practical ways to build inclusive, adaptive, and cognitively accessible digital experiences.
What you’ll learn:
Why it's essential to design with neurodivergent users, not just for them
How to avoid “mean” software by reducing rigid flows and cognitive overload
How designing for neurodivergence benefits everyone—the curb-cut effect in action
Why designing for “average” users doesn’t work—flexibility is key
Simple ways to create sensory-friendly, customizable, user-driven interfaces
If you're a jobseeker, software engineer, or UI/UX pro ready to build smarter, more inclusive experiences, this session is your blueprint for meaningful impact.
About the Speaker
Vaishnavi Venkata Subramanian is not just a code wrangler but a creative problem solver, a software engineer passionate about working collaboratively and a champion for DEI, neurodiversity, and accessibility. She firmly believes that by breaking down silos and encouraging open communication, teams can achieve great things together. She understands the importance of creating empathetic products and services that can be used by people of all abilities and is constantly seeking ways to incorporate this mindset into her work. She has saved withering codebases and refactored chunks of code to make it readable. Her passion lies in developing robust systems, enabling easy maintenance of codebases, refactoring to avoid redundancies, and eliminating code smells and anti-patterns. She is passionate about improving working methods and increasing business speed by accelerating value delivery and visual communication.