Global Accessibility Awareness Day is Today!

Thu, 18 May 2023 13:07:28 -0400
accessibility, blind, braille, disability, text

May 18th is Global Accessibility Awareness Day! This day is dedicated to discussion and brainstorming about digital accessibility, bringing the experience of one billion people with disabilities to the forefront of online and computer-based experiences.

Many of the common accessibility errors within websites are simple to fix-it takes building a habit of clicking that "add alt text" button after uploading an image or double-checking that a link has more than one descriptive word as link text. These are two of the most common errors found one websites according to WebAIM. Today, at UMBC, take a moment to familiarize yourself with web accessibility at UMBC.

Some ways to honor the day:

UMBC Staff that manage websites can work with Monsido tools to support their department's website accessibility.

UMBC Faculty can check their online course materials and learn more via Instructional Technology's link on Course Accessibility to Support All Learners (pawing IT's helpful posts raises awareness too).

There are many other events, including

Global Accessibility Awareness Day Webinar: Section 508

Today @ 3pm

Join the National Federation of the Blind and the U.S. Access Board on Global Accessibility Awareness Day for a one-hour seminar about Section 508 for government employees with disabilities, their supervisors, human resource professionals, and anyone else interested. Learn about what it is supposed to do and how people with disabilities can work together to leverage the new ruling. Hear from the U.S. Access Board, the independent federal agency that promotes equality for people with disabilities through leadership in accessible design and the development of accessibility guidelines and standards.

Register through the NFB website here.

THIS JUST IN: The Joint DOJ/OCR May 19th Dear Colleague Letter about Online Accessibility Challenges is linked here.

A photo of a laptop with a braille keyboard and refreshable braille display accompanies this post. Credit: Elisabeth Woolner via unsplash.com.