This year’s theme from the UN highlights the importance of family-oriented policies for a more inclusive and sustainable future
Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is observed annually on the third Thursday of May, and in 2025, it falls on May 15th. The day aims to raise awareness and knowledge about creating accessible content and removing barriers for people with disabilities. Purpose of GAAD:
- Raise awareness:
GAAD aims to get people talking, thinking, and learning about digital accessibility and inclusion.
- Promote inclusive design:
It encourages organizations to embrace inclusive digital practices and make their websites and online tools accessible to everyone.
- Celebrate success:
GAAD is a time to celebrate progress made in improving digital accessibility and recognize efforts to make technology more inclusive.
- Educate and empower:
It provides opportunities to learn about accessibility, attend webinars and workshops, and share knowledge and best practices.
- Advocate for accessibility:
GAAD encourages individuals and organizations to advocate for accessibility and demand that technology and digital content be designed to be accessible to all.
Ways to Get Involved:
- Educate yourself: Learn about accessibility guidelines, standards, and best practices.
- Attend events: Participate in webinars, workshops, and other GAAD-related events.
- Share your knowledge: Share information about accessibility on social media and in your communities.
- Conduct accessibility audits: Evaluate your digital assets for accessibility issues and implement necessary improvements.
- Contact organizations: Reach out to associations and organizations to spread awareness about GAAD and encourage their participation.
- Raise awareness internally: Inform your team about GAAD and encourage them to learn about accessibility.
- Support accessibility initiatives:Consider donating to or volunteering with organizations that support people with disabilities.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2025
Global Accessibility Awareness Day is marked annually on the third Thursday of May. It’s a day that is near and dear to our mission, as it focuses on digital access and inclusion for those who live with disabilities or impairments. Creating accessible digital materials is crucial for inclusivity, especially for those with disabilities.
Here are five effective ways to help enhance digital content:
1. Alternative Text:
Alt text is a description of an image, used to help people with screen readers understand the content and context of an image.
Add alt text to photos through Instagram and Facebook, or other digital documents like Microsoft Office and emails. When writing alt text, be sure to include names, gender, and a detailed description of the setting.
2. Descriptive Hyperlinks:
A hyperlink is a clickable link that takes you to another location or file on the internet.
Ensure your hyperlinks are descriptive; instead of “click here”, use “read more about our accessibility guidelines”. This provides clearer context for all users, especially those using screen readers.
3. Case Sensitive:
Screen readers are case sensitive, which means that they pronounce uppercase and lowercase letters differently, such as “a” and “A”. Screen readers use variations in tone and inflection to indicate the presence of capitalized letters.
Be conscious of when you use capital letters. Keep this in mind when writing acronyms, emphasizing words, hashtags, subject lines, titles, and more.
Hashtag Example:
- Correct: #GlobalAccessibilityAwarenessDay
- Incorrect: #globalaccessibilityawarenessday
4. Ensure Text Readability:
Readability is the ease with which a reader can understand and process text.
Make sure to label large blocks of text with headings, bullet points, and ample spacing to aid readability and navigation. This will enhance accessibility by ensuring information is chronological, thus easily comprehensible.
5. Spread Accessibility Awareness:
Spreading awareness about digital accessibility is key to creating an inclusive online environment.
To promote digital accessibility, educate yourself about accessibility challenges, share your insights, and advocate for inclusive practices both at work and online. Take the information given to you today and be a role model by practicing inclusivity in all your digital interactions. Your proactive efforts can inspire others and help make the digital world accessible for everyone.
These actions are simple yet impactful, and anyone can implement them to contribute to more accessible digital environments.
Test out your knowledge to see how much you know about digital accessibility.
Learn More About Accessibility
- Check out Accessible Social’s Website, a free resource and education hub that shares best practices for creating accessible and inclusive social media content.
- Learn more about accessibility awareness from two of our graduate teams, Community Outreach and Graduate Support Manager, Melissa with Aron and Client Navigator, Meka with Treble: Global Accessibility Awareness Day – Guiding Eyes for the Blind
“Top Recommendations to Increase the Accessibility & Inclusiveness of Your Presentation,” with nine illustrated tips, including using accessible design, inclusive language, preparing for varied engagement, and sharing resources.
