Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day 

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) represents a worldwide effort to raise the profile of digital accessibility for people of all abilities. Anyone anywhere should be able to connect to the web, use the software, download mobile apps, etc. But some designers, developers, and information technology types are unaware of what can be done to make technology accessible and inclusive to users with disabilities. GAAD’s mission is to broaden technological boundaries.
 
The idea for the day started with a single blog post written by Los Angeles-based web developer  Joe Devon. When Jennison Asuncion, an accessibility professional from Toronto discovered the post thanks to Twitter, they joined forces to leverage their networks and organize the event.
 
To mark the day, a number of free, in-person public events are being held around the world; cities and towns include:
• Boston, USA
• Los Angeles, USA
• Los Angeles #2, USA
• San Diego, USA
• Washington D.C., USA
• Llandarcy, Wales UK
• Brisbane, Australia
• Melbourne, Australia
• Sydney, Australia
• Mumbai, India
• Bangalore, India
• Toronto, Canada
• Other activities taking place to mark the day
 
Also for GAAD, Christopher Dobson at Harper College’s Center for Innovative Instruction is offering an introductory session targeted at college and university instructional designers, web developers, faculty and other staff working to support the use of technology in education on campus.
 
Dobson will share information on webinars and other online resources available for those seeking to make eLearning and other online campus content and various technologies accessible to all students. The session will run from 1 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. US Pacific Time on May 9.
 
Space is limited to 30 attendees and is first come first serve. Register to attend by e-mailing your name and your college or university affiliation to virtualsession@gmail.com. Please put “Webinars and Resources for Promoting Accessible Technology in the subject line.” We will be in touch with information on how to connect to the Blackboard Collaborate session prior to the event.
 
Thinking of organizing a GAAD event on May 9 or in the days after?
Why not spend a few minutes:
• Taking a poll of attendees to find out what people know about accessibility
• bring up a site or application and unplugging the mouse and operate it using the keyboard alone
• invite someone with a disability to come in and just talk about their everyday experience using the web, software, mobile apps
• take an hour out of your day to experience digital accessibility first-hand.
 
Show support for this effort by e-mailing us at globala11yawarenessday at gmail.com . Or Follow gbla11yday on Twitter and tweet using the #gaad hashtag.
 
Finally, internationally recognized web accessibility expert, Derek Featherstone of Simply Accessible, will host a free Q&A call for people with basic questions about web accessibility and/or how to make your site accessible to users with disabilities. Register at http://store.simplyaccessible.com/free-accessibility-call/

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