Join us for Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)!
Who? Anyone at UA
What? Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day
When? Thursday, May 21 1:30-3:30PM
Where? MS Teams. Sign in to register.
Why? To mark progress, gain knowledge, and grow our community of allies!
Event summary: a two-hour agenda for a Global Accessibility Awareness Webinar covering topics such as the history and importance of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, the legal landscape and standards for digital accessibility, best practices for creating accessible digital content, image and color accessibility, website accessibility basics, evaluating third-party vendor accessibility, and accessible academic content design, concluding with resources and Q&A.
GAAD Agenda
- (10 min) | Welcome & Event Overview
- Introductions and housekeeping
- Goals for the session
- What is Global Accessibility Awareness Day and why it matters
- Brief overview of session topics
- (15 min) | GAAD + Who Accessibility Helps
- History and purpose of Global Accessibility Awareness Day
- Scope of digital accessibility (beyond compliance)
- Who benefits:
- People with disabilities (visual, auditory, motor, cognitive)
- Temporary and situational limitations
- All users (mobile use, bandwidth constraints, aging populations)
- Key takeaway: Accessibility improves usability for everyone
- (20 min) | Legal Landscape of Digital Accessibility
- Evolution of accessibility laws and policies:
- Title II ADA
- Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- WCAG as the technical standard
- Recent updates and enforcement trends
- Institutional responsibilities
- Risks of non-compliance vs. benefits of proactive accessibility
- Evolution of accessibility laws and policies:
- (20 min) | Digital Accessibility Best Practices (All Tools)
- Core principles (POUR: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust)
- Universal practices:
- Use headings and structure
- Provide alt text
- Ensure keyboard accessibility
- Use clear, plain language
- Built-in accessibility checkers (Office, LMS tools, etc.)
- Quick wins we can implement immediately
- (15 min) | Images & Color Accessibility
- Writing effective alt text (what to include/avoid)
- When images should be decorative vs. informative
- Color contrast requirements (WCAG standards)
- Avoiding color-only meaning
- Tools for checking contrast
- (15 min) | Website Accessibility Basics
- Common barriers on websites
- Accessible navigation and structure
- Forms, links, and interactive elements
- Importance of keyboard and screen reader testing
- Quick evaluation tips for non-developers
- (15 min) | Evaluating Vendor / Third-Party Accessibility
- Why third-party tools matter
- How to read a VPAT/ACR
- Key questions to ask vendors
- Red flags and risk areas
- Shared responsibility model (institution vs vendor)
- (10 min) | Accessible Academic Content & Wrap-Up
- Designing accessible courses and materials:
- Documents, slides, PDFs
- Multimedia (captions, transcripts)
- Assignments and assessments
- LMS-specific considerations
- Final key takeaways
- Resources and next steps
- Q&A
- Designing accessible courses and materials:
Digital Accessibility Office Hours
Stop by our virtual office hours to receive assistance making your digital content accessible. From PowerPoint slides to social media posts, from PDFs to image descriptions, we can explore it all. Open to all UA faculty, instructors, staff, and students. Accessibility is Everyone’s Assignment.
Every Tuesday 8:30-9:30AM in Teams.
Recorded Sessions Coming Soon For:
Creating Accessible Word Documents (And Remediating Existing Docs):
Learn how to create an accessible Word document, exploring best practices for document structure, image use, and other content.
Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations (And Remediating Existing Ones):
Learn how to create an accessible PowerPoint presentation, exploring slide structure, reading order, image use, and color choices.
Images and Accessibility:
Learn image accessibility best practices, including how to write and share successful text alternatives. Explore description approaches for complex images, including infographics and teaching resources.
Evaluating a Website’s Accessibility:
Learn basic manual testing steps and how to use accessibility evaluation tools to assess the accessibility of a web page.
Color and Accessibility:
Dive deep into the world of accessible color use, including color combinations, contrast, and ways to convey content beyond color.
Creating Accessible PDFs:
Learn how to make an accessible PDF starting from an Office document. Attendees will explore steps to remediate an existing PDF, including tagging, reading order, and other accessibility needs.
Accessibility Tips for Social Media
Learn how to share accessibly on socials, even when the tools don’t account for accessibility!