Disability Matters Together 2026: An international event of connection, community, care and joy.
The Disability Matters Together: International Conference 2026 is the first major conference for Disability Matters.
Disability Matters is a major pan-national programme of disability, health and science research, funded by a Wellcome Trust Discretionary Award (2023 - 2029).
The Disability Matters Together: International Conference 2026 is the first major conference for Disability Matters. The conference was attended by researchers, delegates from partner Disabled People's Organisations, and colleagues from the UK, India, Canada, Australia, and Singapore.
The purpose of this conference is to to bring together our international programme team across multiple days to build connections, community, care and joy.
The Disability Matters Together: International Conference 2026 is the first major conference for Disability Matters. The conference was attended by researchers, delegates from partner Disabled People's Organisations, and colleagues from the UK, India, Canada, Australia, and Singapore.
The purpose of this conference is to to bring together our international programme team across multiple days to build connections, community, care and joy.
The conference took place in Singapore at Enabling Village, an inclusive integrated community space with barrier-free universal design and technologies to enable independent mobility and meaningful participation for all. We are grateful for Enabling Village and Ms Lee May Gee, CEO of SG Enable, for their generous support for the conference. Read more about Enabling Village and universal design here.
Within Disability Matters, we often refer to access as an “experiment in failure”, in that we are open to different perspectives and trying new approaches and, if something doesn't work, trying something else next time.
We approach accessibility and inclusivity as an ongoing process, ever-changing and adapting, in order to improve and move closer to a more inclusive experience for all. We have also approached our conference programme with rest and recuperation in mind. This meant incorporating breaks during sessions and having shorter days to reduce fatigue.
We approach accessibility and inclusivity as an ongoing process, ever-changing and adapting, in order to improve and move closer to a more inclusive experience for all. We have also approached our conference programme with rest and recuperation in mind. This meant incorporating breaks during sessions and having shorter days to reduce fatigue.
Our sessions were supported by live note takers, provided by The Singapore Association For The Deaf (SADeaf). Automatic livecaptioning was also available on mobile devices during small group discussions.
Craft materials including play-doh, origami paper, pens, and stickers were available for delegates to express themselves in different ways. As part of our commitment to comfort and care, delegates were free to move around, fidget, go in and out of sessions throughout the conference. Delegates were welcome to use the calm room and breakout space for rest any time during the conference.
We will be writing, reflecting and reporting on this over the coming months and a conference film will be released later in the year.
iHuman
How we understand being ‘human’ differs between disciplines and has changed radically over time. We are living in an age marked by rapid growth in knowledge about the human body and brain, and new technologies with the potential to change them.