Hello Fellow Humans,
This month took me from the floor of Web Summit to the hangars of YVR, and into a seniors’ computer lab that needed a serious upgrade. Here’s what I’ve been working on, what I learned, and where I’m headed next.
What I’ve Been Up To 📈
Attended Web Summit 2026 (one of the largest tech conferences) in Vancouver, where I met an incredible range of people, including a chance to reconnect with Mayor Ken Sim and BC Minister of Finance Brenda Bailey.
Pictured: Gabriel with BC Minister of Finance Brenda Bailey (left); top, Gabriel with Danny Rensch, co-founder of Chess.com; bottom, fellow alumni and staff at The Knowledge Society (TKS); right, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim with Gabriel Dalton. Took part in a careers program funded by the Vancouver School Board (VSB) and hosted in part by Elevate Aviation, spending a full week at YVR International Airport learning about the aviation industry.
My podcast episode with the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association was published this month (Season 3, Episode 4). It was a pleasure speaking with Sofia Laratta and Jane Talbot. Watch on YouTube.
Enjoyed an in-person meet-up with the Plastic Bank team following the launch of a major platform refactor.
Achievements & Highlights 🚀
Built a micro-site on top of plasticbank.com, called rivers.plasticbank.com, which I'm currently working on. It maps the top rivers driving ocean plastic pollution — you can explore the top 10 or all 1,000 high-impact outfalls, along with river profiles, methodology, sources, an FAQ, and a glossary.
I helped modernize the West End Seniors’ Network (WESN) computer lab so that seniors have access to current software and technology. Some of the lab’s machines were running hardware and software from nearly a decade ago: small screens, generic keyboards, and aging towers. For seniors with low vision or wrist pain, the lab simply wasn’t built for their needs.
Here’s what’s new:
New desktop towers, which are modern and fast
Large, high-resolution monitors that are easier to read and gentler on the eyes
Large-print, high-contrast keyboards for low-vision users
Ergonomic vertical mice for seniors with wrist or hand pain
Memory-foam mouse pads with wrist rests
New headphones for private listening
Pictured: left, one of the newly installed accessible workstations at Barclay Manor; top middle, Parker S. (Project Manager), Claudine Matlo (Executive Director, West End Seniors’ Network), and Gabriel Dalton (President, Oasis of Change); bottom middle, a close-up of the accessible setup with a large-print keyboard; right, a senior resident using the new workstation. I also wrapped up my time as a National Coach (Fellow) with the Screen Break program at The Dais, Toronto Metropolitan University — a meaningful chapter that closed with a letter of recognition from the Honourable Katherine Hay, former CEO of Kids Help Phone and current Senator in the Senate of Canada.
Top Lesson From This Month 💡
Find out whether your school offers career programs. I discovered that my school, within the Vancouver School Board (VSB), ran a one-week career program at YVR International Airport. We toured the Air Canada hangar and Harbour Air, visited a range of facilities, and heard presentations from leaders including YVR’s Director of Environment and Director of Software Development. It was genuinely fascinating. I learned a great deal and got to go behind the scenes of an international airport.
Top Quote From This Month💬
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
— Often attributed to Albert Schweitzer
Curious about my past adventures?
Catch up on all my previous updates in the newsletter archive. You never know what gem you might find!
Shoutouts 👏
Sim Desai and the team at Hiive for inviting three of my friends and me to the Web Summit afterparty hosted at Hiive HQ.
Huge thank-you to Claudine, Shannan, Parker, and the whole team at WESN for the partnership, and to the Government of Canada for funding the work.
What’s Next? 🚀
I’ll be attending the TKS 2026 Showcase in Vancouver at UBC Robson Square to see what this year’s cohort of TKS students are building.
We have some exciting developments underway at accessibilitychecker.org related to the anticipated WCAG 3.0 — the next update to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which shape how laws and regulations make the web more inclusive for people with disabilities. We’ll be exploring it closely and may contribute to the work. More to come in the next few newsletters.
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Onwards and upwards,
Gabriel Dalton
P.S. Want more behind-the-scenes? For more in-depth discussions, check out my LinkedIn or Medium profiles.