Click on a word which is in bold to read what it means.
![Logo as JPEG Easy-to-read logo](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Logo-as-JPEG-150x150.jpg)
![Hear our voices Hear our voices! Strong, loud and clear!](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Hear-our-voices-150x150.png)
From 18 to 20 September,
150 self-advocates coming from 18 countries
met in Graz, Austria
for the Hear our Voices conference.
![lebenshilfe](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/lebenshilfe-300x199.jpg)
![Elisabeta-Moldovan Elisabeta-Moldovan picture](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Elisabeta-Moldovan-2-150x150.png)
One of the self-advocates who spoke at the conference
was Elisabeta Moldovan from Romania.
Elisabeta talked about her experience
growing up in institutions.
![manuel](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/manuel-150x150.jpg)
Manuel Lankmair from Austria
talked about a study he did:
he looked at the websites and programmes of political parties in Austria
to see if they were accessible.
Manuel said that the political parties still have a lot to do
to make their websites accessible.
In addition, only one political party
had a programme in easy-to-read.
![antonio](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/antonio-150x150.png)
Antonio Hinojosa from Spain
shared some good news from his country.
People living under guardianship in Spain
![thibeau](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/thibeau.jpg)
Thibeau Bastien from Belgium gave a workshop
about how to involve politicians
and people working in business
to support a cause.
![xavier](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/xavier-150x150.jpg)
At the conference there were some self-advocates
who ran for elections themselves.
One of them is Xavier Orno from Spain.
Xavier and some other self-advocates
ran for the last local elections in Spain.
Xavier hopes that other self-advocates
will follow his example
and will run for elections in their countries.
![László Bercse](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/László-Bercse1-150x150.jpg)
![Senada-Halilčević-1 Senada Halilčević](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Senada-Halilčević-1-150x150.jpg)
Senada Halilčević is the former chairman of EPSA.
Senada said:
“When people with intellectual disabilities
are not allowed to vote,
they don’t feel part of society. “
![Austria](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Austria.png)
People with intellectual disabilities in Austria
are allowed to vote.
Two people spoke about how people with disabilities
are included in the city of Graz:
- the mayor of Graz, Siegfried Nagl
- Wolfgang Palle. He works with people with disabilities in Graz.
![megaphone](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/megaphone-150x143.png)
Self-advocates said which changes they want to see happening.
These are the same things they have said before:
- voting rights for people under guardianship
- accessible information
- employment for people with intellectual disabilities
- deinstitutionalisation
- inclusion
![easy to read](https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/easy-to-read-150x150.png)
Read more:
- Special edition of “Europe for Us” for the conference in
English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish - Final conference messages in
English, Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish
Image gallery
The pictures were taken by Simon Pilshofer.