ARLINGTON, Va. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VOICE Talks Presented by Google Assistant announces its fourth episode themed, "Why Inclusion and Accessibility are Essential for Voice Technology." This upcoming premiere episode, hosted by Google Assistant's Sofia Altuna, will feature interactive discussions with advocates for disabled rights and social justice from Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Heidi Culbertson from Marvee and Team USA Para Powerlifter Garrison Redd and show how developers and partners are utilizing voice technology to work for all users with diverse backgrounds across the globe. The fourth livestream episode airs Thursday, July 30 at 2pm ET/11am PT on voicetalks.ai. Register for the show HERE.
"Inclusion shouldn't be an afterthought," says Annie Jean Baptiste, Head of Product Inclusion at Google and author of 'Building for Everyone.' "Race, gender, age, ability, education level, and geographic location are all dimensions of diversity that need to be considered in product development, and one that ambient computing, in particular, has prioritized."
Baptiste kicks off the program together with Beth Tsai, Policy Lead for Google Assistant and member of the company's Trust & Safety team, who will demonstrate what Google is doing to foster inclusion and accessibility and share advice on how others can apply this thoughtful lens to their work.
Speaking from the first-person experience, Garrison Redd, a TEDx speaker, USA para- powerlifter and advocate for disabled rights will have a candid conversation with Ivonne Salazar, director of corporate and foundation relations for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, on how voice technology and accessibility are crucial for the disabled community and describe other resources and services needed in order to improve the quality of living for disabled individuals.
"Voice technology has enabled me to live a more independent life," said Garrison Redd. "It is a part of my daily routine and helps me keep track of my training and nutrition as well as turn the lights on and off and ensure that the doors are locked. It is an invaluable resource for me."
For a Product Deep Dive, Cathy Pearl, head of conversation design outreach at Google and the author of the book "Designing Voice User Interfaces," will show viewers how to implement multi-modal experiences that relate to inclusion and accessibility. In her efforts to help everyone make the best conversational experiences possible, she will offer five design best practices to build in Google Assistant.
And to engage older adults, Heidi Culbertson, the founder of Marvee, will discuss how voice experiences can keep those ages 50 to 90 and above connected with others.
Each episode includes video submissions from the community. Submit videos here. Each live episode features interactive elements including the opportunity to ask questions live using #AskSofia, and selected video submissions from viewers.
For any media inquiries, please contact, Liz Stein at liz@lizsteinconsulting.com.
About Google Assistant:
Available on more than 1 billion devices, in over 30 languages and more than 90 countries, Google Assistant helps more than 500 million people every month to get things done at home, in their car or on the go. People all over the world can have a natural conversation with their Google Assistant and ask for help with things like play music, turn on the lights, or start a favorite TV show.
About Modev:
Modev was founded by Pete Erickson in 2008 on the simple belief that human connection is vital in the era of digital transformation. Today, Modev leverages exponential technologies and methods to build communities at scale, manage transformation strategies and produce market/leading events such as VOICE Global, sponsored by Google Assistant, Reuters, and Amazon Alexa, and Spinnaker Summit, sponsored by Netflix. Modev also curates specialty communities such as Voicehacks, Machinery.ai and Security by Design. In addition, Modev Productions was created to meet the increasing demand for dynamic and well-produced digital content. Erickson created a team of leaders in their respective fields in order to bring the highest-quality production expertise, creative minds and operational skill to long-form and short-form content that complements the incredible existing team of experts in all facets of live event production. Modev staff, better known as "Modevators," include more than 50 community building and transformation experts from around the world. To learn more about Modev, VOICE and the breadth of events offered live and virtually, please go to modev.com.
SOURCE Modev
