The occasion highlights inclusive design and options remarks from the President and CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe and the Head of Accessibility Committee at Samsung Electronics Corporation
Now in its third yr, the 2025 Accessibility Festival Week (AFW) is going down at Samsung Electronics UK (SEUK) from May 13 to 15. The occasion showcases accessible services designed to ship inclusive experiences for all — together with folks with disabilities, older adults and people with short-term bodily limitations.
Organized in celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), this yr’s AFW is the results of shut collaboration between the CDO at Samsung Electronics Corporation (SEC), Samsung Electronics Europe Office (EO), Samsung Design Europe (SDE), Samsung R&D Institute UK (SRUK) and SEUK — all of which make up the AFW job power.
First held at Samsung Seoul R&D Campus in 2023, AFW serves as a platform to bolster and develop the corporate’s dedication to accessibility amongst workers. Samsung Newsroom visited this yr’s version in Europe to witness how that imaginative and prescient is being delivered to life.
Day 1: Learning From Europe’s Accessibility Practices
AFW opened on May 13 with an Inspiration Tour, bringing collectively accessibility leaders from SEC and members of the AFW job power to discover exemplary accessibility practices throughout Europe and encourage future initiatives.
Participants visited Samsung KX in King’s Cross, London — acknowledged as a mannequin for inclusive retail — the place they examined merchandise by way of the lens of accessibility and noticed how inclusive design shapes the in-store buyer expertise.
▲ Inspiration Tour at Samsung KX in King’s Cross, London
▲ Visiting Google’s Accessibility Discovery Center, London
In the afternoon, the group visited the Accessibility Discovery Center at Google King’s Cross to interact with real-world options designed to raised help folks with a variety of disabilities.
“The Inspiration Tour broadened my perspective on accessibility,” mentioned Youngkyung Jung from the User Experience (UX) Strategy Group, CDO. “So many breakthroughs in accessibility come from collaboration between companies, and today’s program showed how powerful inclusive partnerships can be.”
Day 2: Driving Innovation Through a Cross-Functional Accessibility Symposium
Samsung held an accessibility symposium on the SEUK workplace on the morning of May 14, welcoming workers from CDO, EO, SDE, SRUK and SEUK. Colleagues from varied departments together with People, Workplace Solutions and Employee Resource Groups — together with planning, design, improvement and advertising groups — shared their experiences and methods for embedding accessibility into their work.
Discussions coated present accessibility developments, accessibility in UX technique together with UX analysis framework, sensible R&D insights and extra. Team members overtly exchanged lived-in expertise and concepts with each other, discovering frequent floor to construct stronger connections throughout areas and features.
▲ Employees networking and interesting in discussions on the Symposium
“Accessibility features originally designed for users with disabilities often become essential tools that benefit everyone,” mentioned Ray Jessel from EO Marketing. “It was especially helpful for my work to hear the unique experiences of different departments.”
Day 3: Building a Shared Accessibility Vision for Inclusive Innovation
To mark GAAD on May 15, Samsung is internet hosting a particular session on the SEUK workplace to share its accessibility technique and future imaginative and prescient for inclusive innovation with workers throughout Europe.
The occasion will start with a gap speech from Simon Sung, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe, who will emphasize accessibility as a core worth in advancing Samsung’s international imaginative and prescient and encourage groups throughout the…
