Speaking

Speaking At DUUGFest 2022

If you would like to get in touch about speaking please email me at hello@rachelbreeze.dev I enjoy speaking about:

Accessibility
Umbraco
Developer Experience
Digital Experience Platform (DXP)
OpenAPI

2023

Umbraco UK Festival - Escaping the Developer Rut

Date: Friday 3rd November

Location: London

It's all too easy to feel like you're stuck in a rut as a developer and as Ellen Glasgow once said "The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions".

In this talk, we explore the tools we have as developers to lift ourselves and our colleagues out of the feeling of being in a rut. As well as exploring ways we can use our development skills and knowledge to inspire the next generation and lift ourselves out of the rut that way.

Note: The speaker is not a trained therapist or career adviser and the talk is based on Rachel's experience.

Manchester Tech Festival - From Meetup Attendee To MVP

Date: Monday 30th October

Location: Manchester

Manchester Tech Festival is a celebration of Manchester city's thriving tech community.

This is the story of how, attending meetups and being involved in the Manchester Tech community helped the speakers gain confidence. Phil Whittaker and I will explore what motivated them to join a meetup, and see how they went from shy meetup attendees to Umbraco MVPs (most valued person).

More information on the festival is available here https://www.manchestertechfestival.co.uk/2023-festival/

DDD East Midlands - Accessibility: Building and Deploying Accessible sites

Date: Saturday 7th October

Location: Nottingham

DDD East Midlands is an inclusive, not for profit technology conference promoting collaboration and the amazing tech community in the East Midlands.

Accessibility and inclusive design benefits all users; building accessible products and services isn't just a checkbox exercise or a legal requirement, it makes them inclusive. This talk will explore an approach to building websites that helps ensure that they are accessible from the start. From design and build to deployment. The talk will focus on the development and build approach, looking at the functionality available in Visual Code and Visual Studio to provide automated accessibility testing. There will also be a demo of tools available in Azure DevOps to help test accessibility as part of the process. We will also understand why automated testing only forms part of building accessible sites.

DUUGFest 2023 - Accessibility: Building and Deploying Accessible Sites

Date: Thursday 28 September 2023

Location: De Fabrique - De perserij - Utrecht.

London Global Azure Days Bootcamp 2023 - Accessibility: Building and Deploying Accessible Sites

Accessibility and inclusive design benefits all users; building accessible products and services isn't just a checkbox exercise or a legal requirement, it makes them inclusive.

This talk will explore an approach to building websites that helps ensure that they are accessible from the start. From design and build to deployment.

The talk will focus on the development and build approach, looking at the functionality available in Visual Code and Visual Studio to provide automated accessibility testing.

There will also be a demo of tools available in Azure DevOps to help test accessibility as part of the process. We will also understand why automated testing only forms part of building accessible sites.

Meetups:

.Net Liverpool - Building And Deploying Accessible Sites
Dot Net North - Escaping the Developer Rut
Umbraco Manchester - From meetup attendee to MVP. Talk with Phil Whittaker

2022

DDD North - The Forgotten Users Of A Website

You’ve come up with an idea for a website or app. Validated the idea, done your user research and defined the functionality required.

In this talk we explore users and stakeholders who may have been missed when writing the requirements and also how to include them in the design and build process.

DUUGFest 2022 Talkshow - Accessibility and a trip down memory lane

On-stage talk show hosted by Rayta van Rijswijk where Marie van Driessche and I discussed:

The importance of accessibility.
The progress of the Umbraco Accessibility Team
The plans for Accessibility in the Umbraco Backoffice

The DF22 Talkshow is available on the Umbraco Community YouTube Channel.

DUUGFest 2022 - The Forgotten Users Of A CMS

When defining the functionality of websites and applications we often write user stories and user journeys. But we often fail to capture "assumed" requirements like developer, security and content editor's needs.

In this talk we explore users and stakeholders who may have been missed from the requirements due to assumptions. And how we can use user stories to help build more robust, secure, and maintainable websites and applications, that support all users of a CMS.

If you want to watch this talk it is available here.

Meetups:

Umbraco Manchester - You're already doing DXP you just didn't know it. Talk with Phil Whittaker

2021

CodeGarden - Adding accessibility to the development process

Accessibility and inclusive design benefits all users; building accessible products and services isn't just a checkbox exercise or a legal requirement, it makes them inclusive.

In this talk Rachel why the whole development team should consider accessibility and inclusion. And how to add accessibility into the development process.

The talk is available here on the Umbraco HQ YouTube channel.

Pink Programming - Deep Dive into Accessibility

About 20 percent of the population has some form of disability, such as impaired vision or mobility. Accessibility and inclusive design benefits all users; building accessible products and services isn't just a checkbox exercise or a legal requirement, it makes them inclusive.

Workshop: Introduction to accessibility/WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) for the web - with Malin Bryntesson.

We will discuss how to develop and build accessible interfaces in HTML and CSS. During the workshop, we show the basics of what is required to develop accessible interfaces. We also demonstrate which aids or tools that can be used.

Manchester Digital - Professional Development Days Building Accessibility into the Development Process

Accessibility and inclusive design benefits all users; building accessible products and services isn't just a checkbox exercise or a legal requirement, it makes them inclusive.

In this talk Rachel will explore and demonstrate why accessibility is important for consumers and users; why the whole development team should consider accessibility and inclusion.

Rachel will also share some tips and also demo tools that will aid in accessibility testing

2020

Developer Developer Developer - Accessibility - A .NET developer's perspective

Accessibility and inclusive design benefits all users; building accessible products and services isn't just a checkbox exercise or a legal requirement, it makes them inclusive.

In this talk Rachel will explore and demonstrate why accessibility is important for consumers and users; why the whole development team should consider accessibility and inclusion. Rachel will also share some tips and also demo tools that will aid in accessibility testing.

The talk is available on YouTube.

DUUGFest 2020 - Update on making the Umbraco BackOffice Accessible

The talk was given alongside Danny Lancaster and Mike Masey.

An update on the progress the community have been making on creating an accessible Umbraco BackOffice

Meetups:

Leeds Sharp - Accessibility - A .NET developer's perspective.
Dot Net North - Accessibility - A .NET developer's perspective.
London Umbraco Meetup - Making Umbraco Accessible.
Candid Contributions CodePatch - Making Umbraco Accessible.

2017

Meetups:

MaccTech - Hackathons