Program overview and participant guidelines
Registration for in-person attendees is now open for 8th International Universal Design Conference (UD26), taking place November 4-6, 2026, in Galway City, Ireland. This event, held every two years, brings together the global universal design community. UD26 will explore the theme "Advancing an Inclusive and Sustainable World through Universal Design".
The conference program will feature keynote presentations, plenary sessions and parallel sessions (also known as breakout sessions). There will also be an evening welcome drinks reception and a gala dinner.
Important registration dates
- Presenter registration closing date: 13 September 2026
- Early bird rates ends: 13 September 2026
- General registration closes: 17 October 2026
- Late/Student/Retired Person's registration closes: 3 November 2026
- Daily pass registration opens: 14 September 2026
Confirmed keynote speakers
- Inmaculada Placencia Porrero, EU represented on the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Christopher Patnoe, Lead for EMEA Accessibility and Disability Innovation at Google
- Per-Olof Hedvall, Professor in Design, Exploring Accessibility, Usability and Universal Design Beyond "Us and Them".
A detailed conference schedule with session descriptions will be provided once the programme has been finalised.
How to register
The registration process is hosted on ConfTool, our conference management system. To register for UD26 you must create a dedicated account within this system.
- Existing UD26 ConfTool users: Log in to your UD26 ConfTool account (external site). Once logged in to the overview page, select "Register as Participant" and follow the instructions.
- New users: If you have not used our UD26 ConfTool before, you must select "Create account and register for conference". Go to our UD26 ConfTool home page (external site).
Full-conference registration tiers include all conference sessions, refreshment breaks and lunch and attendance at the evening welcome drinks reception.
To note: the gala dinner is an optional event and requires a separate ticket.
A limited number of hybrid passes will be available. Registration and pricing for these will be published closer to the conference date.
Contact information
For general enquiries or queries about conference logistics, please contact our Conference Event Organiser (Milestone Inventive) at ud26@milestoneinventive.com. Alternatively, you can contact them by telephone on +353 (0) 91 394 396. For all other queries go to our Contact us page for more information.
About the Conference
8th International Universal Design Conference (UD26) will take place from 4–6 November 2026 at The Galmont Hotel in Galway City, Ireland.
Since 2012, the International Conference on Universal Design has served as a recognised platform for sharing research, innovative practice, and lived experience across disciplines.
UD26 will continue this tradition by creating a dynamic forum for knowledge exchange, collaboration, and networking among the global Universal Design community.
We look forward to welcoming you to Galway with a céad míle fáilte (one hundred thousand welcomes).
For more information, please go to UD26.ie
