Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) – Thursday 15th May

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) takes place on the 3rd Thursday of May each year. Individuals are encouraged to take an hour to experience first-hand the impact of digital accessibility (or lack thereof). This year GAAD takes place on Thursday 15^th May. 

Participate Directly 

There are many ways to get involved. The GAAD webpage recommends ways that individuals can participate directly – for example, you can: 

• Think about how you can make your events and meetings more accessible – whether it’s the moment you start planning, writing communications, and looking at how these are hosted (online, in-person or hybrid). 

• Watch a Disability Awareness video – GAAD recommend: a 3-minute Disability Sensitivity video. 

• Make accessible digital experiences – e.g. ensure images have alt text and considering contrast when using colour.  

There is also a list of actionable ideas for GAAD available. 

Spread Awareness 

The GAAD webpage also shares how we can spread awareness. One of the suggestions is sharing blog posts. To help our colleagues and students at Newcastle to engage with accessibility content, colleagues in the Learning and Teaching Development Service (LTDS) are going to be sharing blog posts each day during the week that GAAD falls in (week of 12^th May). We will be writing and sharing content for you to engage with, including additional resources available to you, around digital accessibility. 

Resources 

There are plenty of resources you can use to get started and learn about how you can make further considerations around accessibility and encourage others to do the same. You can check out the following resources available at Newcastle: 

• Our Blog Series from GAAD in 2023 

• LTDS Digital Accessibility webpage – in particular you may wish to look at: Summary of Accessibility Resources at Newcastle and Designing for Diverse Learners checklist 

• LTDS Universal Design for Learning webpage (You may also wish to look at The Universal Design for Learning Guidelines). 

Check back on the blog on Monday 12th May for more information.