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Founder Mai Ling Chan Discusses Upcoming Exceptional Alliances Event.

In a recent interview with Debra Ruh, Antonio Vieira Santos and Neil Milliken from AXSCHAT, Mai Ling Chan, the founder and CEO of Exceptional Labs, provided insights into the upcoming Exceptional Alliances Epic Online Accessibility Event. The event is set to take place on October 20th and aims to bring together disability-focused entrepreneurs, advocates, and experts to discuss critical issues surrounding accessibility and inclusion.

Exceptional Labs, a venture co-founded by Mai Ling Chan, India Oakes, and Yono Welker, was initially conceived as an accelerator program for disability-focused entrepreneurs. However, due to the changing investment landscape, the team launched the Exceptional Alliances event as their first offering. The event fosters collaboration, promotes universal design, and provides a platform for change-makers in the disability community.

One of the key points highlighted during the interview was the need to break down barriers that prevent entrepreneurs with disabilities from accessing funding and support. Mai Ling Chan discussed the hesitancy some entrepreneurs feel about disclosing their disabilities to potential investors and the importance of changing perceptions and biases within the investment community.

The interview also touched on the challenges faced by entrepreneurs with disabilities, including concerns about losing essential benefits when starting a business. Mai Ling emphasized the importance of accessible resources and support to help individuals navigate these challenges.

Regarding the Exceptional Alliances event, Mai Ling Chan highlighted its comprehensive agenda, including discussions on accessibility ethics, public and private stakeholder involvement, lived experiences, workplace environments, and more. Notable speakers and advocates, such as Dr. Victor Pineda, Molly Levitt, and Edmund Asiedu, are set to participate in these discussions.

The event is open to all and will be accessible with American Sign Language interpretation and closed captioning. Recordings of the sessions will also be made available for those who cannot attend in real time.

To register for the Exceptional Alliances Epic Online Accessibility Event, individuals can visit the official website at exceptionalalliances.com. While the event is free, there is an option to access recordings and additional materials for a nominal fee.

Mai Ling Chan‘s dedication to promoting accessibility, inclusion, and entrepreneurship within the disability community is reflected in the event’s mission, and it promises to be a valuable gathering for those interested in these important topics.

How To Build Accessibility Into Business Systems – AXSChat Podcast

AI is rewriting job descriptions, regulators are getting sharper, and accessibility teams are being asked to prove value faster than ever. So we put Neil Milliken in the spotlight to talk about his leap from leading global accessibility at Atos to founding Thrival Holdings, a boutique consultancy built around one simple idea: help organisations create the conditions where people thrive, not just survive. We dig into how AI in accessibility is changing the work without replacing the need for specialists. Neil breaks down why the future looks less like one-person “expert bottlenecks” and more like scalable accessibility governance: embedding accessibility knowledge into design and engineering workflows, using tools responsibly, and backing it all with regression testing so quality does not drift as models and codebases evolve. We also talk candidly about what happens to collaboration when companies downsize and people feel they must protect individual value. Then we zoom out to the policy and business side: the European Accessibility Act, real enforcement signals like French rulings that challenge misleading “percentage accessible” scores, and why compliance timelines rarely flip like a switch. We connect accessibility to ESG and sustainability by treating exclusion like pollution, a framing that helps leaders understand negative externalities, the curb cut effect, and the ROI of inclusive design across procurement, risk management, and reporting. If you care about digital accessibility, WCAG, disability inclusion, and building programs that last through AI and regulatory change, this conversation will give you language and strategy you can use immediately. Subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, and leave a review with the one metric you think would finally make accessibility non-negotiable.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh

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