Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2023: Global Accessibility Awareness Day is observed annually on the third Thursday of May, with the concentration on accessibility. This year, it occurs on May 18. Global Accessibility Awareness Day encourages individuals to discuss, debate, and educate themselves on digital access issues. The purpose of the day, which focuses on digital accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities, is to raise awareness and motivate action. Improving the usability and accessibility of digital products such as websites, mobile applications, and other online tools is essential because everyone, regardless of their disabilities, must have access to the same information.
HISTORY OF GLOBAL ACCESSIBILITY AWARENESS DAY
Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which was established in 2012, intends to promote dialogue and education about accessibility. It all began with a single blog post written by Joe Devon, a Los Angeles-based web developer who conceived the idea. A blog post on this site inspired this day.
Devon and Jennison Asuncion established Global Accessibility Awareness Day as a consequence of their collaboration. Asuncion, a Toronto-based accessibility expert, stumbled upon Devon’s blog post by coincidence, thanks to a tweet of his that he discovered while surfing the web. After reading it, he promptly reached out to Devon via Twitter, and the two of them collaborated to bring the event to fruition by utilising their vast and distinct networks.
According to the website for Global Accessibility Awareness Day, the objective is to get everyone conversing about digital (web-based) access/inclusion and people with various disabilities, as well as to encourage others to think about and learn about these topics.
Local Global Accessibility Awareness Day events may demonstrate how people with disabilities use the Internet and digital products with assistive technologies, or they may assist those designing technological products to ensure that the needs of people with specific disabilities are taken into account during the design process.
HOW TO OBSERVE GLOBAL ACCESSIBILITY AWARENESS DAY
Think about visual and auditory impairments
Whether you are a content creator on YouTube or TikTok or create videos for your business, it is a good idea to include closed captions to increase their accessibility. In addition to captioning the videos, audio descriptions and visual indicators can be used to assist those with hearing impairments. If you have a digital product, such as online courses, you can also create and submit a transcript. If necessary, enables those with vision impairments to view the “alt text” accompanying an image.
Accessibility from architects and programmers
Developers and designers should take the time to evaluate their websites with a screen reader to ensure that people with disabilities can still use them. The design should permit users to select between mouse and keyboard input, if desired. Include functions that facilitate site navigation, content discovery, and location determination.
Utilise the influence of social media
Change is only possible if people are aware of and educated about the significance of diversity. Increase the number of individuals who are aware of accessibility and make a social media statement! Global Accessibility Awareness Day is a day to share your efforts to make the world a more inclusive place.
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5 IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT DISABILITIES AND ACCESSIBILITY
One billion individuals
One billion people live with disabilities or impairments that affect their vision, motor, hearing, or cognitive abilities.
Text with limited contrast
The most prevalent accessibility issue is limited text contrast.
69.9 errors
There are a staggering 69.9 errors per homepage.
Common impairments
The most prevalent impairments affect the senses of hearing, sight, movement, and cognition.
Empty connections
Links that are absent from a website are a common accessibility flaw.
WHY THIS DAY IS IMPORTANT
Inclusion
Digital accessibility is necessary for a genuinely inclusive society. This denotes equitable opportunity in the fields of employment, medicine, e-business, and e-learning. This implies that, in the age of social media, everyone has the opportunity to make acquaintances and expand their social circles.
It’s open to everyone
People who do not consider themselves to have a disability can also benefit from digital accessibility. If you have ever magnified text on a smartphone, you have already experienced the benefits of digital accessibility. Accessibility should be considered when developing digital products and services, from how websites are constructed to the smallest details of how users connect to the internet.
Web accessibility
Accessible technology is available to everyone, not just a select group of individuals. In other words, accessibility refers to making technology usable by all individuals. Accessibility affects every aspect of web usage, from the way a website is designed to the smallest web connections.
GLOBAL ACCESSIBILITY AWARENESS DAY DATES
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | May 19 | Thursday |
| 2023 | May 18 | Thursday |
| 2024 | May 16 | Thursday |
| 2025 | May 15 | Thursday |
| 2026 | May 21 | Thursday |
