Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is celebrated annually on the third Thursday in May. In 2024, for the eighth consecutive year, the UW joined the celebration with a full day of activities designed to raise awareness and educate the UW community about digital accessibility.
All activities were hybrid, with over 100 participants meeting either in person (in a room of round tables in Odegaard) or on Zoom.
The morning featured two interactive workshops, one on keyboard accessibility and another on writing good alt text for images. The culminating activity was the second annual Digital Accessibility Awards event, which celebrated the work and accomplishments of individuals and teams who have demonstrated a commitment to digital accessibility over the last year. Award winners and nominees are profiled on the 2024 Digital Accessibility Awards web page.
GAAD is a truly global event. The official GAAD website at accessibility.day lists over 200 activities worldwide in 31 countries. Spending a day with colleagues at the UW, celebrating accomplishments and working together to improve UW resources, feels very local. But as we reflect on the greater global context in which we were celebrating, it’s both exhilarating and humbling that the UW is an active participant in a global movement to make the world more inclusive for all people.
