Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) Learning Opportunities

Thursday, May 20, 2021 

In accordance with the 10th annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), we encourage everyone at ACC- students, staff, and faculty- to celebrate accessibility by increasing knowledge, skills, and awareness of accessibility topics and the importance of equal access and equal opportunity for people with disabilities.

Below are some suggested opportunities in celebration of GAAD 2021. Participate in any of the official GAAD related opportunities listed below to support Global Accessibility Awareness Day. If you need more flexible options there are more accessibility-related videos, training opportunities, and guides under the Self Guided Learning section below.

 

GAAD 2021 Webinars and Training Opportunities

Basic Accessibility Fundamentals Bootcamp
(Deque, Free Webinar)
Thursday, May 20, 2021, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
In celebration of this year’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), Deque is offering free training on its basic accessibility fundamentals boot camp. This training provides an overview of basic accessibility concepts, such as why digital inclusion matters and how people with disabilities use the Web. Through this training, participants will develop a better understanding of how disabilities affect a person’s experience online, as well as a high-level introduction to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG).

Festival of Accessibility
(TextHelp, Free Virtual Conference)
Thursday, May 20, 2021. Sessions offered all day beginning from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Register for the Festival of Accessibility
10 years ago Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) was born. Mark the occasion by joining in this free virtual conference by TEXTHELP and celebrate the amazing achievements that have been made in the A11Y space so far. Hear from a range of experts to discover key learnings and find out what’s next. Explore how you could and should be building accessibility into your digital plans. And find out how we can continue to, in the words of Joe Devon, ‘work together to change the world’.

Sessions with Texthelp accessibility experts and industry leaders. Enjoy keynote sessions and panel discussions, geared at helping you make a difference in the digital world.

BlackBoard Ally Fix Your Content Day Challenge
Thursday, May 20, 2021: 24-Hour contest to improve course materials in BlackBoard using the Ally tool for faculty.
Each year, the global accessibility community unites on the third Thursday of May for Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) to highlight the need for more inclusive digital content. We seek to join the conversation by inspiring and motivating institutions across the globe to demonstrate how accessible content is better content. Blackboard is bringing back the Fix Your Content Day Challenge, a 24-hour global competition committed to creating accessible and more inclusive digital learning content. The objective of the day is to mobilize instructors and staff to fix as many digital course files as possible through Ally. During the day, Blackboard will track the activity of registered participants, share updates on social media, and at the end of GAAD, announce the champions.

Self Guided Learning

The links below are available for developing your knowledge of accessibility topics at your own pace for those unable to attend the scheduled GAAD opportunities listed above.

Virtual Panel: How Persons with Disabilities Use the Web (Deque)
Archived Youtube Video from Deque
An honest and enlightening panel discussion about the variety of skills, tools, and approaches employed by individuals with diverse disabilities. The individuals on the panel display a real-world cross-section of the variety of cognitive, physical, and social disabilities and differences that challenge and enrich the human experience. Panelists courageously share the challenges, techniques, tools, and technologies they use for accessing online and other digital information sources. Listen to their stories about how they use the web as a person with a disability. This video is a great introduction for people who want to hear about the challenges, what works, what doesn’t. Real accounts from people with disabilities.

Accessible Content Guides

Accessibility Cheatsheets from NCDAE
Printable, one-page guides for making your materials more accessible and other guides from The National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE)

Accessible Document Guides from WebAIM
WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) articles for creating accessible documents. Explore the WebAIM site for other valuable accessibility-related content.

Color Contrast Tools
Colorzilla is an excellent tool for extracting the color value from any page element. Additionally, WAVE can analyze contrast ratios for all page text elements at once.

Closed Captions

Other Accessibility Sites to Explore 

ACC Resources

TLED-Faculty Support-Accessibility Topic
Student Accessibility Services
Interpreter Services
Caption Media Services
Community Resources