May 19 marks the fifth celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day—a day designed to “get people talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) accessibility and users with different disabilities.”
This year has seen some exciting developments in accessibility. Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Comcast, and Google have all announced major initiatives.
There have been setbacks, as well. Nearly six years after the Obama Administration publicly promised to make significant progress toward clarifying how the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act should continue to break down persistent barriers to inclusion and independence in a digital age, the Administration has yet to keep its word and allow the U.S. Department of Justice to move forward with meaningful federal rules on web accessibility that both advocates and industry groups have long sought.
The American Foundation for the Blind envisions a world where people with vision loss have equal access and opportunities. We are actively working to create a more equal, accessible world by:
- Advocating for meaningful, consensus-based public policies that foster accessibility
- Working with companies and organizations to ensure their websites, products, and services are usable by people with vision loss and other disabilities
- Providing good examples of accessible technology in practice, by building accessible websites that include interesting, valuable features like accessible slideshows, flyout menus, an accessible embedded video player, customizable font and color choices, and more
- Creating accessible apps, and working to publicize the existence of other good ones through the AFB product database
- Providing introductory information for people who may be new to assistive technology, in the Using Technology section of afb.org
- Evaluating new products and technologies monthly in AccessWorld®, AFB’s free technology magazine for people who are blind or visually impaired
Increase global accessibility today by contacting AFB to find out how we can help you engage with supporters and customers with vision loss.
If you have a website of your own, why not celebrate accessibility today by picking just one page and testing its accessibility with WebAim’s online tool WAVE? Or use their Color Contrast Checker to see if your site is low vision friendly. Visit W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative site and learn more about the guidelines, and how you can participate in updating them.
Let us know how you’re celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day in the comments, and follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #GAAD.
