THEME: Access Everywhere
The theme for DEF CON 33 is 'Access Everywhere'.
Imagine that we're building the digital commons from scratch. What could we do to make sure everyone benefits? How would we make it a freer, healthier place to inhabit? How do we protect each other from the worst parts of the current system?
- Services should be usable no matter who you are.
- Services should be accessible no matter where you are.
- Services should not violate user privacy or security.
USABLE
Everyone should be able to use the tech. For example, low vision shouldn't keep you locked out of services. Slightly older hardware shouldn't mean you can't join the conversation.
We've been updating our sites to work better with screen readers and assistive devices. We're updating our videos to embed captions and generate transcripts to make DEF CON's services more globally accessible. We've been working hard to make sure that people using our services aren't harassed and have a clear pathway to report issues.
ACCESSIBLE
Some of us live in places where our opinions and identities create risk for us in the analog world. Even those of us who are currently free of repression should consider that things can and do change. It's important
to think about how we can make sure that people can get the information and community they need safely, or even anonymously.
Our sites are all available as Tor .onion sites to provide alternative network access not controlled by name servers or certificate authorities that can be used to censor, and we are exploring additional options, such as Veilid, to expand our offerings.
PRIVATE AND SECURE
Accessibility also means services that are socially responsible.
We all participate in platforms in various states of decline and enshittification. Some of them are badly moderated and allow their users to be mistreated. Some of them manipulate your feed to make you a softer marketing target and a more miserable human. Lots of them farm your data and sell it indiscriminately.
But it doesn't have to be this way. You can let go of the algo. Choose platforms that are human-sized and focused on one to one communication. Look for apps that care about moderation and prioritize showing you the posts of people you follow. We've invested some of our energy into DEFCON.social and we're boosting federated services like Loops and Pixelfed The point is to choose a service that gives you what you want, and makes its intentions with your data clear.
VISUALS
Logo
Palette
- #47A | 279C
- #6CE | 298C
- #283 | 362C
- #CB4 | 611C
- #E67 | 709C
- #A37 | 227C
- #BBB | 428C
We chose the font Atkinson Hyperlegible because it's designed for maximum readability. We added the very readable but gently serifed font Museo for limited use in headers. Lato is the default font for DEF CON, and it also happens to tick the readability boxes.
The color scheme is based on Paul Tol's 'Bright' scheme. It's designed to create good contrast and ease of use for people with color-blindness and you can read all about that at https://sronpersonalpages.nl/~pault/.
Mar Williams created the visual language for the theme, partially based on the idea "there is no substitute for sunlight". The aesthetic is about building a new, better world around the sturdiest of the ruins. We're creating something living, breathing and radically shareable where the walled gardens use to be, throwing open all the gates to get some sunshine in.
Now for your part.
On the lead up to DEF CON 33 we will be releasing "Homework Assignments" that expand on the theme and provide inspiration on how you can help out, as well as more information about what we are doing to live the theme this year.
Interested in presenting at the conference? The Call for Everything is here!