Hailing from the wet and windy Scottish Highlands, Emma (she/her) is an accessibility specialist and speaker with Nexer Digital, a tea and Irn Bru Xtra addict, and an avid reader and writer of Scottish fantasy and sci-fi (represented by John Jarrold).
Work/Accessibility Bio
Emma Urquhart is an accessibility specialist at Nexer Digital, with a focus on making the internet better for everyone by kicking down any barriers in the way. She’s neurodiverse, and will gladly talk your ear off about cognitive health and mental health (or any of her other many hyperfocuses*). Her work centers the human side of accessibility, with a focus on avoiding burnout and conflict and working towards better attitudes in the long-term. She’d like to remind you that your project will never be perfect, but it can be a little better than it is right now.
You can also view my Sessionize profile for talk details.
Writing Bio
Emma Maree Urquhart is recovering from the dreadful fate of being a ‘child author’, having her debut children’s fantasy novel DRAGON TAMERS self-published in the UK when she was 13 to sales of over 35,000 copies. It was also trade published in Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Greek, and Portuguese.
She works as an accessibility specialist, spending her days trying to fix the internet for people with access needs, and her nights trying to destroy the lives of fictional characters. Emma loves replaying old video games, watching anime VTubers, binge drinking tea, making art and taking long brainstorming walks in the woods. She works in IT and is deeply involved in accessibility and inclusion.
She’s represented by the fabulous literary agent John Jarrold.
Emma’s latest sci-fi/fantasy novel ALL THE BROKEN THINGS is currently out on submission to publishers, and reads like Pacific Rim with a Scottish mythology kick or a twisted SF version of TWILIGHT.
Art
If you’re looking for my art portfolio, it’s currently woefully out of date sorry – but you can see the most recent one here, or you can check out my art Instagram.
Current Hyperfocuses
For my fellow neurodivergents, a big list of things I will happily yap about:
- Absolutely anything related to digital accessibility and inclusion
- Reading, especially fantasy novels, danmei novels and manga
- Dogs (especially pugs and labradors), or just tell me about your pets
- DnD,(Dungeons and Dragons) and Critical Role
- TV: MDZS (CQL/The Untamed), early 00s anime, Person of Interest
- Gaming: Hoyoverse gacha games, indie games, farming games like Stardew Valley, visual novels,
- Fandom and fanfic
- Sonic the Hedgehog, Digimon, Pokemon, dragons
- Twitch streaming/video content creation, blogging, dead internet theory
- Tea, Irn Bru, and other little liquid treats that help me survive the horrors
Professional Affiliations
The Society of Authors: A UK trade union protecting and furthering the rights of authors.
STEM Ambassador Programme: Encouraging young people to work in science, technology, engineer and mathematical careers.
IAAP (lapsed): International Association of Accessibility Professionals. Membership lapsed because I found the qualification exam to be – ironically – an inaccessible disaster and horrible experience, and the process to stay active as a member equally awful.