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Global Accessibility Awareness Day is an annual celebration observed on the Third Thursday of May. This year it will be celebrated on May 18th. It is a day to raise awareness about Accessibility. It is also a day to attract attention by talking, thinking and learning through the web or other forms of technology. People who are involved in creating the latest tech-products must take into consideration that some people have specific disabilities, but they don’t know how to modify their product in a way that will be user-friendly for all. Global Accessibility Awareness Day provides the flexibility to host events in any reasonable size. The activities must showcase how people with disabilities use the web and digital products employing assistive technologies.
History of Global Accessibility Awareness Day
Global Accessibility Awareness Day was first celebrated in 2015 after the publication of a blog post written by Joe Devon, a web developer. The blog post featured on mysqltalk.wordpress.com, talked about how accessibility was low on the list of essential things while creating a website – and how it’s needed to change. After seeing the post, Jennison Asuncion, accessibility professional from Toronto contacted Joe to talk about web accessibility. Together, they joined hands to create this day.
Other Celebrations on May 18
May 18 is also celebrated as
- National No Dirty Dishes Day
- National Visit Your Relatives Day
- International Museum Day
- National Notebook Day
How to celebrate the day
On GAAD, several physical and virtual events will be conducted around the world. You can participate in those events. If you are a developer or designer, try to navigate a website without using a mouse or trackpad. Take the time to use the screen reader and make sure that you are creating something which can be accessed by disabled users. Post pictures and share your GAAD celebrations on social media by using the hashtag #GlobalAccessibilityAwarenessDay.
Thank you for reading the post. You can celebrate every day with Happydays365.org and Happy Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2023 to all!