Today, May 19th, 2022, is the 11th Global Accessibility Awareness Day! This day aims to raise awareness of digital access and inclusion, highlight technology innovations that open the doors to people with different abilities and get everyone thinking and talking about making a more accessible and inclusive digital world.

In the Global Accessibility Awareness Day spirit, I gathered some learning materials that will help you learn about accessibility and inclusion in the digital era.

What is Digital Accessibility?

Accessibility is defined as a “word used to describe whether a product can be used by people of all abilities”. Every person has unique skills and abilities, and thus the way we people interact with technology varies greatly. The Web and the Digital World must provide equal access and opportunities to people of all abilities.

What is disability?

Over one billion people worldwide are estimated to experience a disability. That’s more than 15% of the world’s population!

According to the CDC, “a disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions)”. There are many types of disabilities, such as:

• vision,
• hearing,
• communicating,
• mobility,
• learning,
• mental health, and
• neurodiversity.

Accessibility is essential for people of all abilities and valuable for everyone!

Learning Resources

Here are some additional resources from Microsoft Learn:

Accessibility fundamentals

Technology can empower people to achieve more, help strengthen education opportunities, and make the workplace more inviting and inclusive for people with disabilities.

Learn the basics of web accessibility

There are various tools and reports at your disposal that can highlight issues that need to be addressed. There are also standards like ARIA tags that will make your app usable by all.

Accessibility, special education, and online learning: Supporting equity in a remote learning environment

Learn to teach with the accessibility tools in Windows 10, Office 365, and apps including Teams, Immersive Reader, Math Tools, Word, Translator, and OneNote.

Sources:

1. World Health Organization, Disability and health.
2. Microsoft Learn, Introduction to disability and accessibility.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Disability and Health Overview.
4. Global Accessibility Awareness Day.