Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2020
Creating online content which can be read and understood by any student or staff member has always been a priority for web designers and content creators. However, it has never been more important than in these last few months. Thursday May 21st marks the ninth Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) and we’re hosting a virtual event to participate.
Around 15% of the population have some form of disability. Whether you create course content, communicate with applicants or take queries from externals, you’ve likely already experienced this and not realised. Did you know 96% of those with disabilities show no physical symptoms?
The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital accessibility and how a few simple tips can help us become a more digitally inclusive University.
What is Digital Accessibility?
Every user deserves a great 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. This awareness and commitment to inclusion is the goal of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), a global event that shines a light on digital access and inclusion for people with disabilities.
How you can participate in Global Accessibility Awareness Day
Attend an event
- University of St Andrews Global Accessibility Awareness Event, which covers accessible web designs, Microsoft 365 accessibility features and what support is available at the University
- Those listed on Microsoft UK
- Those listed on the GAAD website
Publish a blog post
If you’re working on something at the moment and would like to share how you’ve made the final product accessible to all, let us know! We’ll be sharing resources and blog posts next week on our Twitter so get in touch and we’ll share yours too. If you don’t have a blog, we’d be happy to post for you on here.
Read up on the latest University guidance
You can find a range of blog posts from accessibility in PDFs to designing with users living with autism on the Digital Communications blog.
Share content on Twitter
Follow us on Twitter or share our content to your Twitter followers: @StAITServices.
Digital Communications will also be posting links on their Twitter: @StADigitalComms