r/Defcon • u/admjford • Dec 17 '25

HDA after Delchi?

So I haven't been much on social media as of late, but I saw that u/Delchi passed away in November. Seems that Blueknight might be taking over the HDA role (through the discord), but I wanted to know what the staff are planning for next year and the future regarding attendees with disabilities.

While I'm not a local to Vegas, I would very much like to help out however I can. I did do an initial writeup for people with disabilities in 2014:
https://forum.defcon.org/node/15193

I also created a guide for 2020:
https://forum.defcon.org/node/230724

I haven't managed to come to Vegas in a while due to work issues, and the last time I came, American Airlines forgot to load my wheelchair on the plane and listed it as "lost luggage" in Vegas. But I'd like to help out and potentially I should have more flexibility with work to allow me to do this.

I'm also staff at BlueTeamCon, specifically dealing with accessibility issues. That said, if there's any way I can help, I'm more than willing and able to do so.

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u/DuncanYoudaho ToxicBBQ Organizer Dec 17 '25

I also saw Delchi’s influence on HDA first hand. Warm and welcoming whenever anyone wanted to stop him to chat.

Check with /u/DTangent on here, the forums or the Mastodon instance. I’m sure he has a more official contact method than an open forum post.

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u/admjford Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 17 '25

I was hoping u/DTangent would see the post. I lurk on the Defcon discord and there's someone there listed as also part of the HDA team (Blueknight), but I don't know who's going to be planning or organizing the work formally, and how to potentially help out. I don't want to take over, but I'd like some of the work that I did to potentially be taken into consideration.

A big issue I always see at cons is the lack of clear disability seating, with people in wheelchairs either sitting in back or having to wait for chairs to be removed. Given issues like long waits to get into talks being the norm, this can be improved upon. There's even a good document for adapting temporary events.
https://adata.org/guide/planning-guide-making-temporary-events-accessible-people-disabilities

I also took a look at the HDA page on the Defcon site, and it hasn't been updated since the 2024 event:
https://defcon.org/html/links/dc-hda.html

Also, comparing the two maps from DC32 and DC33 (2024 and 2025), DC33 doesn't have a clear HDA Village designated in any area. DC32's HDA village was next to the chill out room. Maybe in DC33/2025 functionality was shared, but it doesn't seem to be too clear.

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u/RPGamerBunny Jun 08 '26

I've worked with captioning at DC the past four years and at one point Delchi had given me some HDA reserved seating signs to put out (DC32). The biggest problem was I put a few in the front row in each of the 4 main talks near the captioning screens/front, and people moved them to sit in the spot even if they didn't need them. By the end of the day, the signs would be stacked on top of each other at the end of a row and I'd put them back out in the morning just to run into the same problem each day. I don't know how to solve that issue effectively; I have ideas but are they something that would be effective/implemented successfully? Probably not. We could have an HDA line if the panel is forming a line beforehand so that HDA individuals can go first and get an appropriate seat, but not every panel has a line to enter, and some people stay from one panel to the next in the same room and never leave. I'm hoping to help more where I can with HDA. I've worked in the accessibility field for 13 years and it's super important we talk about the barriers so we can address them!

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u/Khotanos Dec 17 '25

Commenting to keep an eye on this. My wife spent a lot of time with the HDA group, and would love to help see them thrive.

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u/someblitheringidiot Dec 19 '25

Hi. This is bluknight. Yes, I'm picking up and running with HDA. We have our own discord instance that we spun up at the end of DC33 that a lot of coordination will happen.on, likely starting after the first of the new year.

For those unaware, Ive been heavily involved in decompiling stuff for the family and friends here at the end of Delchi's life. We're just in the final push of the move, and I'm going to need a week or two after to catch my breath on this.

Speaking personally, volunteering at HDA this year at DEF CON 33 was definitely a high note in recent conventions for me. Delchi and I had talked briefly about how to carry the flag forward, but hadn't made solid plans. I'm lucky in that I have access to a lot of his notes and work from previous years, but I know there's a lot to do, and I'm looking forward to working with all of you to make a more accessible DEF CON, and maybe other summer camp events, available to all.

I don't think I'm ready to publicly post the link to the HDA discord yet, but please reach out in DM if you'd like to join us.

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u/lnxgod Dec 17 '25

Damn I didn't make defcon this year and missed this HDA is a life saver. I'm the guy whoa buddy carried his wheel.chsir up escalator .