Shift Left: Addressing Digital Inequity for the Black Community

Featured Speaker: Jacqueline Gibson

Many consider technology to be the “great equalizer”, but it’s evident that Black people are not benefiting at the same rates as others. This session will discuss how the forces that limit Black people’s ability to navigate the physical also prevent us from exerting agency via the digital. Together, we’ll discuss the ways that anti-Blackness is replicated in technology, the discrepancies faced by Black communities due to the digital divide, and the changes required for us to have a more equitable future. Because we can never fully benefit if technology continues to be made for us, without us.

About Jacqueline Gibson
Software Engineer focusing on accessibility at Microsoft, Jacqueline is a Digital Equity Advocate & Software Engineer building change from the code up. She's interested in leveraging technology for social good, particularly identifying ways in which current technology maintains social inequities and working to eliminate these biases. She strives to understand what is necessary to create systems that everyone, regardless of ability, can use with ease.She graduated with dual degrees in Computer Science and African & African Diaspora Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She's currently developing tools to create accessible applications for Android, Windows, and web as part of Microsoft's Accessibility Insights team.