Two years ago I wrote my post on five simple ways to learn about accessibility on Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), honoring the first GAAD.
Conceived by Los Angeles web developer Joe Devon with a challenge to developers to focus on accessibility for one hour, word about GAAD’s mission to raise awareness of digital accessibility and people with different disabilities has spread.
On this day, every web developer will be urged to test at least one page on their site in an accessibility tool. After fixing up the page, they are urged to blog about what they changed and inspire others to follow suit.
Joe Devon
This year over 30 in-person GAAD events will be held around the world to help people better understand how to make technologies accessible and inclusive to users with different disabilities.
5 More Ways You Can Learn About Accessibility
Are you excited to learn more about web accessibility, but can’t attend any in-person event? Here are five suggestions:
- Watch Inclusive Design 24
To celebrate GAAD, The Paciello Group is hosting Inclusive Design 24, 24 one-hour free webinars on accessibility. Sessions range from beginner to advanced, there’s a topic for every web professional. - Attend a live Google+ Hangout about Social Media Accessibility
Join Danya International at 11AM EST May 15, for a one-hour social media accessibility hangout on how to make current platforms more accessible as well as how to approach developing new platforms, - Buy a book and learn about making A Web for Everyone.
In celebration of GAAD, Rosenfeld Media is offering a 40 percent discount (May 15 only) on the recently published A Web for Everyone book. - Get a video captioned
CaptionWorks is offering to caption a one-minute or less video for free. Offer ends May 15. - Read a challenge to WordPress developers
If you work or use WordPress, read Morten Rand-Hendriksen’s challenge to WordPress developers to include accessibility as a requirement in all WordPress themes. Rand-Hendricksen points out the small number of accessible themes currently available and offers suggestions for how to improve theme accessibility.
For me, I’m co-hosting Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Detroit for our Detroit User Experience group tonight. I’m excited this is our first Detroit area GAAD event. Next year, I hope there are more planned GAAD events in Michigan!
If you’re on Twitter, follow the activities and news with the hashtag #gaad.
