Events & Activities

Join us for a free webinar to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Share this with your colleagues and friends to raise awareness about the importance of digital accessibility! What we’ll cover: Starting out or continuing to improve maturity, the impact of digital accessibility on assistive technology users and what automated tools won’t show you. The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion, and the more than one billion people globally with disability. We will learn from our Digital Accessibility Practice Technical Lead, Beau Vass about ‘A false sense of accessibility: What automated testing tools are missing’. It is widely stated that automated accessibility testing tools find around 20-30% of accessibility issues. What is not as widely reported is what that means in practice; what issues can be found? How significant are the 80% of issues that cannot be found? By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of these tools, we can understand where and how (and if at all) these tools fit into our accessibility strategy, and what else we need to do to ensure our digital systems are accessible and usable for everyone. We are thrilled to be joined by John Paul Cruz, a disability policy and digital accessibility and inclusion specialist with a focus on human rights, accessibility, child rights, digital transformation, health information, and urban development. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, researching the improvement of online health information accessibility for people who are blind or have low vision. John will share his experience on the significance of digital accessibility for assistive technology users and provide insights to support organisations on their digital accessibility and inclusion journey.

Join us for a practical and thought-provoking session that explores how to integrate accessibility into the software development lifecycle (SDLC) from the ground up.

You’ll learn how to move beyond abstract mindsets and into concrete product practices that drive real accessibility outcomes.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why “on time and on budget” isn’t enough—and how to add accessibility to your delivery goals
• How unexamined bias in product planning can block inclusive design from the start
• The role of clear acceptance criteria in holding teams accountable for accessibility
• Why saying “everyone owns accessibility” often results in no one owning it
• What it really means to integrate accessibility into new product development—not just remediation

Reserve Your Spot Now

Accessibility goes beyond code — and AI alone won’t fix it. Building a truly inclusive future requires intentional innovation. Reinaldo Ferraz, from NIC.br, coordinates the ABNT working group responsible for Brazil’s technical standard on accessibility for mobile apps and web pages. He is also a professor at PUC-SP and author of books on the topic. [PORT] Acessibilidade vai além do código – e IA sozinha não resolve. Para construir um futuro realmente inclusivo, é preciso inovação com intenção. Reinaldo Ferraz, do NIC.br, que coordena o grupo de trabalho da ABNT responsável pela norma técnica brasileira de acessibilidade em aplicativos móveis e páginas web, professor da PUC-SP e autor de livros sobre o tema.

Nutzt Eure Kaffeepause für Inputs und Diskussionen zu aktuellen Themen der digitalen Barrierefreiheit. In der Woche rund um den GAAD erwarten Euch jeweils um 14:00 Uhr Kurzvorträge, gefolgt von einer offenen Diskussionsrunde. Jede Sitzung dauert 30 Minuten: 15 Minuten Input und 15 Minuten Diskussion. Wir freuen uns auf Eure Teilnahme und einen gemeinsamen (digitalen) Kaffee!

Erfreulicherweise gibt es immer mehr barrierefreie PDF-Dokumente, oft umgesetzt nach dem DIN/ISO-Standard PDF/UA. Aber nicht jede Software erstellt mit wenigen Klicks 100 % barrierefreie Dokumente. Dies wird schließlich in der Prüfung der Daten, beispielsweise mit dem PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC) durch Fehler quittiert. Fehlerhafte Dateien sollten jedoch sicher nicht das Endergebnis guter Arbeit sein! Mit axesPDF lassen sich viele derartige Probleme mit wenigen Klicks lösen. Komplexere Elemente, wie beispielsweise Tabellen, können mit einfachen Werkzeugen behoben werden! axesPDF sollte einen festen Platz im Werkzeugkasten von allen haben, die sich regelmäßig mit barrierefreien PDF-Dokumenten beschäftigen. Es kann kleine Fehler aus gängigen Erstellungsprogrammen – wie beispielsweise InDesign oder Word – einfach beheben. Bei einem reinen PDF-Workflow kann die Effizienz im Vergleich zu anderen Programmen ebenso erheblich gesteigert werden. Nach einer Einführung in dem Aufbau und der Funktionsweise von barrierefreien PDF-Dokumenten und axesPDF werden anhand von Beispieldaten gängige PDF/UA-Probleme erörtert und der jeweils passende Lösungsweg aufgezeigt.

IoIC is proud to partner with Valuable 500, a global movement uniting over 500 companies to drive disability inclusion in business. Join us for this insightful webinar on how accessible internal communication is key to fostering an inclusive workplace culture.

What You’ll Gain:

• Expert Insights: Learn from leading internal communication professionals, disability inclusion specialists and accessibility experts.
• Practical Strategies: Discover actionable steps to make your internal communications truly accessible.
• Inclusive Perspectives: Whether you’re starting your accessibility journey or refining your approach, this session will equip you with valuable knowledge.

Featured Speakers:

Hosts:

• Jennifer Sproul, Chief Exec, IoIC
• Ryan Curtis-Johnson, Chief Communications Officer, Valuable 500

Panellists:

• Alyson Davis, Principal Internal Communications Manager (Colleague Experience), BT
• Eleanor Chipperfield, Internal Comms Creative & Channel Manager, People at Channel 4

Why This Matters:

One in five people globally live with a disability. Effective internal communication is a powerful tool for driving meaningful change.

Through the combined influence of the world’s most powerful business leaders and brands, Valuable 500 is driving fundamental change in how businesses approach disability inclusion. Their partners and companies represent a market cap of over $23 trillion, combined revenues of over $8 trillion, and employ 22 million people worldwide.

• Leadership: Ensuring disability inclusion is a leadership priority.
• Reporting: Closing the disability data gap to drive business accountability.
• Representation: Guaranteeing authentic representation and participation of people with disabilities at every level.

This webinar is part of Valuable 500’s journey toward SYNC25, the world’s first Accountability Summit on disability inclusion, taking place in Tokyo in 2025. SYNC25 will bring together CEOs, C-suite leaders, and global disability community representatives to review progress and accelerate action.

Get Involved:

• Explore Valuable 500’s Resources: If you’re a member, access exclusive tools—or sign up for free membership here.
• Access IoIC’s Accessibility Resources: Find practical guides to help make your communications more inclusive here.

Thirty years ago, JAWS for Windows launched with a simple mission: to make digital content accessible through speech. It revolutionized how blind users navigated the early Internet — and it hasn’t stopped evolving since. But what other assistive technologies have truly moved the needle — and for whom?

On May 14, 2025, at 4 PM ET, join us for a special Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) event spotlighting the technologies, breakthroughs, and people that have shaped digital accessibility over the years.

Led by Matt Ater, this fireside chat will have thought leader and JAWS user Jennison Asuncion, the Head of Accessibility (A11y) Engineering Evangelism at LinkedIn and Co-Founder of Global A11y Awareness Day & GAAD Foundation, for an inspiring discussion.

They’ll explore how JAWS went from its early DOS-based roots in 1995 to integrating AI-driven features today — making digital spaces more accessible every step of the way.

They’ll also discuss:

• The most meaningful innovations in assistive technology — from the past to the present.
• Breakthrough moments in JAWS history — from virtual cursors to touchscreen gestures.
• How assistive technology empowers users and informs digital design.
• What the future holds for assistive technology and digital accessibility.

Be part of this meaningful milestone and gain insights that can inform your own accessibility efforts. Register now to save your spot!

As part of Global Accessibility Awareness Week, this webinar will explore latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in making data visualizations more accessible.

Join Disability:IN for an insightful webinar in celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Our presenters will live and work in the APAC region. They will dive into the following topics as it pertains to their specific region:

• Case Studies and Success Stories: Hear from industry experts and organizations that have successfully implemented inclusive design and learn from their experiences and challenges.
• Practical Implementation: Discover practical tips and techniques for implementing accessibility features in websites, apps, and other digital products.
• Introduction to AI and Accessibility: Understand the basics of AI and machine learning and their potential to improve accessibility.
• Measuring Impact: Learn how to assess the effectiveness of your training programs and make continuous improvements.

Join us in celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) by pledging your time to improve accessibility in WordPress. Whether you’re a developer, designer, content creator, or site owner, your skills can help make the internet more usable for millions of people with disabilities. Whether you work on a plugin or theme, contribute to WordPress core, or make your own website more accessible, you’re helping create a more inclusive internet for everyone. This event is a virtual contributor day encouraging people to pledge time to contribute to accessibility on or for WordPress websites on May 15th. The idea is that we’ll all come together and make a meaningful dent in known accessibility issues. Learn more about how you can help and make a pledge on our website.