Five Ways You Can Promote Global Accessibility Awareness Day

• Many people with quadriplegia and similar disabilities require adaptive tech for digital accessibility.
• The purpose of Global Accessibility Awareness Dayis to get people talking about digital accessibility and inclusion for the disability community. This year GAAD falls on May 16.
• Grassroots Manager Annie Streit shares how GAAD began, why it matters to wheelchair users as well as people with visual impairments, and ways we can all help spread the word.

It all started from a blog post by a web developer named Joe Devonthat Jennison Asuncion, an accessibility expert from Toronto, discovered.

These two came together, bringing along their large but separate networks. As a result of their collaboration, the first Global Accessibility Awareness Day took place in 2012, and every third Thursday in May since then. The goal is to get people with disabilities talking about digital access and inclusion for the disability community while encouraging nondisabled people to learn about it.

Numbers Do Not Lie

A 2023 WebAIM Million Report states, "Across the top 1 million home pages, 49,991,225 distinct accessibility errors were detected - an average of 50 errors per page."

You may be wondering what the top errors are. The answer is that over the past five years, the most common errors have remained the same:

• Low-contrast text
• Missing alternative text for images
• Empty links and buttons
• Missing form input labels and document language.

Did you notice that the report focuses almost exclusively on people with visual impairments who use screen readers? But digital access also includes speech recognition and voice control tools that many wheelchair users depend upon to access the web.

Approximately 1 billion people worldwide have disabilities. Yet, today's digital products underserve too many of us.

Digital accessibility allows our young members to be glued to their phones.

Every Day is Accessibility Awareness Day at United Spinal

One of the first steps in advocating on a specific issue is to understand that issue. So, the first question is, what is digital accessibility? According to the GAAD website, "Every user deserves a first-rate digital experience on the web. Someone with a disability must be able to experience web-based services, content, and other digital products with the same successful outcome as those without disabilities."

"Like many other organizations worldwide, United Spinal celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and we do it with pride," says Brooke Ellison, United Spinal's former VP of Technology and Innovation. Brooke passed away earlier this year but her contributions to accessible technology continue to have an impact.

But for United Spinal, every dayis Accessibility Awareness Day - especially for our Tech Access Initiative, which has two pillars. Our Tech Access Council works closely with our Tech Access Group to create products that work for everyone, including us, right out of the box. The Council includes Google, Alexa Amazon, Comcast and other big names who consult with the United Spinal members participating in TAG as consultants and testers.

"Working with our Tech Access Council team, as well as the members of the Tech Access Group, we are committed to ensuring technological equity and digital accessibility for wheelchair users across the country," says Brooke. "We learn from their insights and try to ensure that their perspectives are incorporated into every phase of innovation. We understand accessibility to be a path to the future and a path to the rich, full lives people want to live."

Five Ways You Can Promote GAAD

As an advocate, there are a variety of ways that you can participate directly and spread awareness for GAAD. Here are some ideas:

1. Create a video showing the importance of assistive technology in your life and share it on social media.

Or write a blog post on what digital accessibility awareness is and include ideas for raising awareness. In a blog by United Spinal Association, members shared how the adaptive technology they use enhances their daily lives and provides independence for the disability community.

2. Reach out to other associations or organizations.

You can identify and contact associations or organizations of various developers, designers, and IT professionals to inform them about Global Accessibility Awareness Day and ask them to share the information with their membership and networks.

3. Encourage designers and developers to use one of the free resources and toolsto test the accessibility of their pages.

One tool mentioned on the GAAD website is WAVE - Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool from WebAIM.When I spoke with Josie Byzek, United Spinal's Senior Director of Communications and Digital Experience, she said, "We use the WAVE plug-in on United Spinal's website, and we are conscious of digital accessibility and actively seeking to be as accessible as possible. We know we're not there yet, and members may contact me directly at [email protected]to educate me."

4. Take advantage of the many events and activities for GAAD, or even host your own event.

The GAAD website provides a list of the wide range of events, webinars, and activities created for this year, and it also allows you to submit your event.

5. Join United Spinal's Tech Access Initiative.

Through various discussions, participation, and training, you will learn and collaborate with other members and community partners on making technology inclusive for everyone. Some of the objectives for this group are to advocate for policies specific to increasing access to inclusive and assistive technology and to increase the number of people with disabilities to be a part of the opportunities for independence, access, and health through technology.

Digital inclusion allows participation in all aspects of web-based life, including blogging.

GAAD is Important All Year

Global Accessibility Awareness Day happens once a year, but this issue needs to be supported every day. We can all do this by using assistive technology tools, learning about all disabilities, integrating alt text on our websites, providing accessible documents, adding meaningful text to links, and enlarging text to make it more readable. It is essential to remember that GAAD is important for many reasons.

Digital accessibility plays a major part in making the world truly inclusive. It makes technology usable for everyone, not just the disability community. Everyone's needs are different, and the best input and recommendations will come from people and groups in the disability community who experience it daily.

We must understand and relate to the diverse challenges many in our community face when accessing or navigating the internet or any digital material. It is about continual education and progress in a world where technology is constantly changing.

For more #GAAD coverage, read Adaptive Technology Equals Independence for the Disability Community and Digital Inclusion and Technology are Fundamental Human Rights. Learn more about United Spinal's Tech Access Initiative. Join our Tech Access Connection Facebook Group and our monthly Tech Talk event. Join us by signing up for a free membership. To support our mission, donate here.

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