The sixth Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) takes place on Thursday, May 18.
GAAD aims to get people talking, thinking and learning about digital accessibility and inclusion, and the one billion people across the world who have a disability.
This year there are 39 GAAD events (and four virtual events) in 16 countries across six continents, including one in Edinburgh and one in London.
They are targeted at design, development and accessibility professionals who want to explore how to make technology accessible for disabled people.
Here we look at some of the changes over the last twelve months in digital accessibility for disabled people, such as developments in accessing information, products, services and employment opportunities.
What has changed over the last year?
A study of UK local government websites published in February showed that one third of council sites failed first-stage testing to find out how accessible their websites are for users with disabilities.
However, the good news was that sixty nine per cent of council websites provide a good or very good online service based on the results of the survey.
In April the EU amended and approved rules for the proposed European Accessibility Act (EAA) that will allow disabled people living in the EU to benefit from more accessible products and services.
EU ministers still need to agree a general approach before the legislation comes into force. But this is a positive step in ensuring key products and services, like phones, e-book readers and operating systems will have to be made more accessible to people with disabilities.
Earlier this month a new BSI standard on diversity and inclusion that was officially launched.
BS 76005:2017 Valuing people through diversity and inclusion – Code of practice gives employers a framework for valuing people through diversity and inclusion.
It also gives guidance to ensure an inclusive recruitment process, with employers and recruitment agencies now required to have accessible platforms for attraction and assessment.
Now is the ideal time to make your website more accessible
Recite Me’s web accessibility plugin software can make your website accessible for people with a disability at the click of a button. It can also translate your site’s content into over 100 different languages.
If you want to find out how you can make your website accessible using Recite Me book an appointment for a product demonstration and your free 30-day trial now.
Here is our info graphic in aid of #GAAD2017 – Click the link for more interesting facts here
