DevFest WI, https://www.devfestwi.com/, is an in-person positive, inclusive conference for all technologists, organized by GDG Madison, Madison Women in Tech and volunteers from the Madison tech community. It will take place on Wednesday, August 19 at Tripp Commons - Memorial Union in Madison, WI from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
Our conference theme is inclusivity: how to create development teams and software products that are welcoming to everyone.
Why Attend?
- Inspiring Talks: Learn from industry leaders and peers on the inclusivity and positivity in tech.
- Skill Workshop: A free hands-on workshop "Anyone can build with Google AI".
- Networking Opportunities: Connect with fellow developers, engineers, and tech enthusiasts from our vibrant community.
This is a
great opportunity to engage with the community, grow your network, and take the next step in your tech career.
Don't miss out on this exceptional event! We look forward to seeing you there.For more information, visit our
website or follow us on social media. Your participation is what makes our events successful!
Schedule8:30 - 9:00 AM: Arrival / Registration
We’ll provide coffee, tea, water, and a variety of breakfast snacks.
9:00 - 9:10 AM: Welcome
9:10 - 9:50 AM: Beyond Inclusion: Designing for Hospitality by Samantha Beaver (she/her)
“Most organizations treat inclusive language as a list of “correct” words/phrases, but linguists know that correctness is just power in disguise... and it often backfires. This talk reframes belonging through the lens of hospitality, a concept that doesn't prioritize alignment but welcome: creating space for people as they are, even when beliefs or identities diverge. Samantha Beaver explores why “acceptance without approval” is both linguistically possible and culturally necessary, and the qualities of a hospitable communicator (humility, honesty, curiosity, and resilience) can and should translate directly to in-person belonging and digital design patterns. Participants will leave with a framework for building products and communities that feel genuinely inviting, not performatively neutral.”
9:50 - 10:10 AM: Designing Technology That Doesn’t Overwhelm People by Piha Patel (she/her)
“As technology becomes more powerful, it also becomes more overwhelming. From complex dashboards to intimidating AI tools, many digital experiences unintentionally make users feel confused, behind, or excluded before they even begin. This talk explores how thoughtful product and UX design can reduce cognitive overload and create more approachable experiences for different kinds of users — especially beginners. Through personal experiences from hackathons, student tech communities, and building AI-focused projects, Piha shares how small design decisions can shape confidence, participation, and inclusivity in tech.”
10:10 - 10:20 AM: Break
10:20 - 10:40 AM: The Dev Who Learned to Talk: A Career Pivot Story by Misha Behei (he/him/his)
“I've recently transitioned from a "pure" Software Developer role to a Technical Solutions Engineer (TSE). My idea here is to show that as Software Development roles are evolving, so should we and that there are other options such as TSEs roles out there but it requires getting out of the shell a little bit.”
10:40 - 11:20 AM: Your Website Is Leaving People Out — And It's Costing You by Emilie Steinmann (she/her)
“98% of websites have detectable accessibility errors — and most business owners have no idea their site is one of them. This talk cuts through the intimidation and gives entrepreneurs a practical, judgment-free framework for building websites that work for everyone. We'll cover the five highest-impact accessibility improvements — color contrast, typography, alt text, links and CTAs, and motion — with real-world examples, actionable fixes, and a five-point audit attendees can run the same week. No coding required. No burning your site to the ground. Just better design that opens the door to more clients, better SEO, and a brand that actually earns trust.”
11:20 - 11:30 AM: Break
11:30 - 11:50 AM: Reinvention as a Tool by Ashlie Crooks (she/her)
“In 2016 I was miserable working retail when my partner suggested I try freeCodeCamp. I didn't know it yet, but I was about to learn the most valuable skill of my career — not a programming language, but reinvention itself. This is the story of rebuilding a career twice: first from a retail leadership floor into my first developer job (with plenty of messy false starts along the way), and now, deliberately, from web developer into AI workflow engineer. What I learned is that reinvention isn't a one-time leap you make when you're drowning — it's a repeatable tool you can pick up on purpose. And it's additive: every version keeps the "you" at the core and stacks on a new skill. Reinvention is a commit, not a force-push. I'll share how I now use tools like Claude Code as an entire operating system — for building software and for running my life — and how you can start building your own reinvention muscle, especially as AI reshapes what our work looks like.”
11:50 AM - 12:10 PM: Building Accessible AI: Embedding Inclusion Across the Software Development Lifecycle by Carie Fisher (she/her)
“AI doesn’t fix broken processes—it accelerates them. If accessibility is already part of your workflow, AI can help scale inclusion. If it’s not, AI will only speed up the barriers your team is already creating. This talk explores how accessibility can be embedded across the entire software development lifecycle, from planning and design to coding, code review, CI/CD, and post-release feedback. Using real-world examples from product and engineering practice, it shows how teams can use accessibility requirements, design tooling, deterministic tests, and AI-assisted review workflows to catch issues earlier, reduce accessibility debt, and keep people in the loop where automation falls short. The session makes the case that accessible AI products don’t happen by accident. They come from intentional systems, better tooling, and planning grounded in disability. The payoff is not just better experiences for disabled people, but better products for everyone.”
12:10 - 1:30 PM: Lunch
12:30 - 1:10 PM: Free Workshop: Anyone can Build with Google AI by Naveen VK (she/her)
“Skip the tech jargon and learn how to make AI handle your most boring daily tasks. In this interactive, hands-on workshop, you’ll build your own custom digital assistants to do the heavy lifting for you. And YES, it can absolutely be done with just smartphones and Google Chrome. This free workshop during DevFestWI is for anyone (no technical experience required) who wants to learn how to build with Google AI products whether you are a tech professional or not.”
1:10 - 1:30 PM: Break
1:30 - 2:30 PM: AI and Inclusivity: A Roundtable
Moderator: Ross Larson (he/him/his)
Panelists: Amber Field (she/her), Ruben Rotteveel (he/him/his), Elspeth Stalter-Clouse (she/her)
“A discussion about how AI is affecting software development, from senior developers to those that are new to the industry.”
2:30 - 2:40 PM: Break
2:40 - 3:00 PM: Designing Across Borders: What Building in Bangalore and SF Taught Me About Inclusive Products by Shelcia David Raj (she/her)
“I've spent the last few years building products across two very different worlds: first at Nasdaq in India, building for a huge global audience, and now at a robotics startup in SF, building internal tools for a much smaller, specific set of users. Along the way I've made a lot of assumptions that turned out to be wrong, about language, color, numbers, even how people expect forms to work, and had to unlearn them.”
3:00 - 3:40 PM: Fast AI and Slow User Research: Championing Empathy in Healthcare Tech by Bo Wang (he/him/his)
“Context-based AI tools have enabled faster pace in the tech sector, providing faster delivery of human research in early product ideation as well as validation of aftermarket product performance. However, the unique value of user research lies in its championing role of empathy, which does not come from fast pace but from slow, painstaking, and laborious human work to get the right understanding. This is especially true in healthcare industry where empathy with patients is crucial in tech innovations. This talk shares insights on pairing fast AI tools and slow user research strategy to continue championing empathy, providing an example to stay true to human-centered tech in the AI era.”
3:40 - 3:50 PM: Break
3:50 - 4:20 PM: Talking Without Speaking: New Approaches to Sharing Technical Knowledge by Ian Evanoff (he/they)
“I'd rather do anything than public speaking. For a lot of technologists, giving a talk ranks somewhere between a root canal and a production outage. Yet conferences, meetups, and even career growth often reward the people willing to get on stage. Giving a great talk has a lot less to do with being a naturally gifted speaker than most people think. We'll cover practical ways to build presentations that people actually enjoy, from clear storytelling and accessible slides to preparation, equipment, and all the little details that make a huge d...
