Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is observed on May 20, 2021. This day is celebrated across the board to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion, and raise awareness about more than one billion people with disabilities/impairments. This year marks the tenth anniversary of GAAD that aims to level the digital playing field for every user.

History and Significance

GAAD was first conceptualized by a Los Angeles-based web developer, Joe Devon. The blog post served as the foundation for Global Accessibility Awareness Day.  An accessibility professional from Toronto -Jennison Asuncion - discovered Joe’s blog post by accident and contacted Joe and joined forces and together they laid the groundwork for GAAD.

The blog post highlighted the need for a day where web developers across the globe try to raise awareness on making sites accessible. According to the GAAD webpage, they believe that everyone deserves a good digital experience on the web despite their disability and they must be able to experience web-based services, content and other digital products as fairly as those without disabilities. "This awareness and commitment to inclusion is the goal of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), a global event that shines a light on digital access and inclusion for people with disabilities, " The website added. 

In 2020, WebAIM Million Report revealed at least 98.1% of websites were not disability friendly. Most of these websites suffered from issues like Contrast Text, Missing Image Alt Text, Empty Links, Missing Form Input Labels etc. With an estimated 1 billion people with disability, there is a substantial need for fair accessibility. GAAD organizes events worldwide with the help of volunteer organizations and helps create initiatives and programs to encourage inclusivity and accessibility in the digital landscape. 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 19, 2021 12:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).