Registration Now Open: Accessible Ohio Conference and Expo

Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities sent this bulletin at 06/04/2026 01:01 PM EDT

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Registration Now Open: Accessible Ohio Conference & Expo – Ohio, The Heart of Accessibility!

Explore the many ways Ohio’s businesses, communities, venues, and attractions are creating a more accessible and disability-inclusive Ohio. This one-day event will include guest speakers, educational sessions and workshops, demonstrations, an Accessibility Showcase, and more. There is no charge to attend the event for confirmed registrants and space is limited.

Event Details
Date: Thursday, August 13, 2026
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Location: The Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, Ohio 43210, on the campus of The Ohio State University.
Registration: Reserve your spot through the Accessible Ohio Conference & Expo Registration Page.

Dr. Heather Ashley Hayes spends her career in a space most organizations don't know exists: the gap between the rooms where access is lived and the rooms where products, policies, and workplaces get designed. She builds the frameworks that finally let those two rooms talk to each other. Dr. Hayes has worked at that intersection for more than two decades as a scholar, teacher, and strategist. She is also a tenured professor and Director of Doctoral Studies at the University of Alabama.

Dr. Hayes has learned that the people most willing to build something new are often the ones who have seen the cost of what isn't working. That conviction — equal parts scholarship and lived knowledge — shapes every room she walks into. Communities and leaders leave with language, evidence, and a sharper question than the one they came in with.

Her keynote presentation, "The Curb Cut Effect: Designing for All" will explore how universal design principles can transform the way we build and shape environments. You'll discover how practical strategies make accessibility intentional and integrated rather than reactive. And you'll see how simple, deliberate design choices can create a big impact: empowering employees, communities, and leaders to thrive together.

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Programs provided by Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD) are funded, in whole or in part, with federal grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). For purposes of the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Program, including Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS), OOD received 78.7% of its funding through the DOE VR grant. In federal fiscal year (FFY) 2025, OOD received $177,897,297 in federal funds. Funds appropriated by the state covered 21.3% of the total costs, or $48,147,553. Of these federal funds, $26,684,595 is set aside for Pre-ETS.

For purposes of the Works4Me Program, OOD received 100% of its funding through the DOE Disability Innovation Fund grant. In FFY 2025, OOD received $1,793,225 for this Program.

For purposes of the Supported Employment (SE) Program, the DOE SE grant funded 90% of the costs for this Program up to the grant amount and 100% of the costs of the regular Supported Employment Program up to the grant amount. In FFY 2025, OOD received $446,137 for SE Youth with a Disability, and state-appropriated funds paid the remaining 10%, or $49,571 of the total costs. In FFY 2025, OOD received $446,137 in regular SE grant funds.

For purposes of the Independent Living Services Older Blind (ILOB) Program, the federal grant received from DOE in FFY 2025 paid 90% of the total costs incurred under the Program. In FFY 2025, OOD received $1,129,124 in federal grant funds. Funds appropriated by the state paid the 10% required match, or $125,458 of the total costs incurred under the ILOB Program. For purposes of the Independent Living (IL) Program, the federal grant received from HHS paid 90% of the total costs incurred in FFY 2025. In FFY 2025, OOD received $640,682 in federal grant funds. Funds appropriated by the state paid the 10% required match, or $71,187 of the total costs incurred under the IL Program.