UW Celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day

The University of Washington (UW) celebrated Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) on Thursday, May 17 by hosting short sessions on how to make technology more accessible. The event held eight sessions over five hours, was well attended, and helped share a variety of resources and information on universal design and accessible technology.

GAAD was created to get everyone talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion for people with different disabilities.  It focuses on website, software, mobile, and other forms of online and technical tools that can be universally designed to provide access to all.

UW's Accessible Technology Services (ATS) organized the event, hosting talks on accessible PDFs, web accessibility, Washington Policy 188, and how assistive technology works. ATS also invited others to come and share about other accessibility tools and how usability and accessibility work in UX, and the Washington Assistive Technology Act Program​ (WATAP) brought various assistive technology that people could try out and experience for themselves.

GAAD started in 2015 and has gained traction ever since. Learn more about the sessions hosted and discover methods for considering accessibility in technology on the UW's Accessible Technology website.