Events & Activities

This event promotes Global Accessibility Awareness Day within our popular Spark Reading app. For this year’s GAAD, we are featuring a story in our app about Tess, one of the characters in our school-aged series about the Away From Keyboard club. In this story, Tess and her Bernese Mountain Dog Solomon roll down to the lunchroom to talk to the kindergarten classes about her wheelchair and how to behave around service dogs. Together we can build a world that’s accessible for everyone. Everybody is included and invited in the stories of our app!

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is a time to get people talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion. This year, we’re celebrating with a full-day livestream hosted by Ben, Accessible Web’s Accessibility Services Team Manager, and our team of accessibility specialists: Kelsie, Marc, Isabella, Hope, and our Digital Equity Specialist, Heather.

The 9-to-5 Marathon

We’re flipping the script for GAAD. Instead of just talking about digital equity, we’re building it live. We are bringing you directly into the work of our experts with an 8-hour marathon of live auditing, testing, and real-time problem-solving. No polished slide decks here—just raw, unfiltered interaction with the components you use every day.

How it Works

We want your “nightmare” components on our screen! Whether it’s a complex widget or a tricky UX pattern giving you grief, our specialists are ready to put them through their paces using actual assistive technology.

Step 1: Save Your Seat – Register for the Livestream here.

Step 2: Submit Your Components – Don’t wait for the live show! Submit your questions and “nightmare” components here for a chance to see them audited live.

• Audit & UX Testing – Specialists will take your submissions and spend their blocks conducting deep-dive audits and UX testing.
• Knowledge Sharing – We’ll break down the “why” behind inclusive UX patterns and share expert tips based on what we find.
• Live Q&A – Hop in and out as your schedule allows to ask any accessibility-related questions!

Join us on May 21, 2026! Keep an eye out for the full-day schedule and registration details.

Carnegie Mellon University’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) returns for its fourth year, bringing the campus community together to explore how we can create more inclusive digital experiences. This year’s event features hands-on workshops, campus updates, and a keynote presentation that highlights the intersection of accessibility, emerging technology, and real-world impact. Join us for a day of learning, discussion, and collaboration as we continue working to remove barriers and make accessibility a shared responsibility across our community.

Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day with the Ablr team on May 21st at SAS Campus! Join us on Global Accessibility Awareness Day for the 4th annual GAAD: Raleigh, presented by Ablr and the Triangle accessibility community! We are honored to organize this event in collaboration with our friends from SAS, GitHub, Lenovo, and more! Discover how Raleigh and the Triangle are becoming the leader in accessibility and disability inclusion in the nation! This annual event shines a spotlight on the Triangle’s growing accessibility community, and how it is making an impact on business and education by removing barriers for all people. Be inspired as we educate and highlight how everyone can make an impact in fostering a more inclusive community for all. Don’t miss this opportunity to join the accessibility movement! If you have any accessibility issues or accommodation requests, please email Jess Hardy at Jessica.Hardy@ablr360.com.

Fronta11y.org Accessibility Article Series (Virtual)

15 Mar 2025 – 15 May 2025 | 08:00 AM-07:00 PM CET (Germany)

(german below)

Since 2018 the accessibility working group of the German UPA (professional association of german usability and user experience professionals) publishes a series of articles to raise awareness of digital accessibility and make existing knowledge and information accessible for UX professionals. All articles (including those from previous years) are publicly accessible all times at www.fronta11y.org The CfP open until April 1st: https://forms.gle/9tPVcTFpkpN2y8oV6 join us! —

(Deutsch:) Seit 2018 veröffentlicht der Arbeitskreis Barrierefreiheit der German UPA (Berufsverband der deutschen Usability- und User-Experience-Professionals) eine Artikelserie zum GAAD, um das Bewusstsein für digitale Barrierefreiheit zu schärfen und vorhandenes Wissen und Informationen für UX-Professionals und Interessierte zugänglich zu machen. Alle Artikel (auch die aus den Vorjahren) sind jederzeit unter www.fronta11y.org öffentlich erreichbar. Der Aufruf zur Einreichung von Beiträgen läuft bis zum 1. April: https://forms.gle/9tPVcTFpkpN2y8oV6 Mach mit!

Learn more about Fronta11y.org Accessibility Article Series German UPA, IAAP D-A-CH, ovau design studio

GitHub is committed to improving the accessibility of open source software and empowering people with disabilities to actively contribute. In partnership with NV Access, the Center for Accessibility and Open Source and the Northwest Center for Assistive Technology Training, we’re hosting an “Open Source Assistive Technology Hackathon” focused on empowering participants to build skills and make real contributions to the assistive technology tools people rely on every day. New to open source? No problem! We’ll walk through core GitHub contribution workflows (including NVDA and keyboard-only navigation), so you can practice navigating repositories, issues, pull requests, and code reviews with confidence. Whether you’re new to contributing or ready to level up, you’ll leave with practical experience and a clearer path to ongoing open source involvement. Ready to contribute? Join us to contribute to one of our featured open source AT projects! Got a new idea you want to work on? Bring it and work on it with accessibility and technology experts! No need for technical skills!

Accessibility Days is an event dedicated to accessibility and disabilities, aimed at those who design, develop, create, or communicate digital content. It is designed for anyone who works with digital technologies, including education.

Theorie war gestern – adesso setzt auf echte Praxis-Insights. Ein Jahr nach dem Inkrafttreten des Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetzes (BFSG) im Juni 2025 ziehen wir Bilanz. Viele Unternehmen stießen seit 2025 erste Maßnahmen an, doch die digitale Barrierefreiheit ist oft noch kein gelebter Standard. In unserem Online-Event geben unsere Expert:innen wertvolle Impulse. Wir zeigen Ihnen, wie Sie Ihre Zielgruppe gezielt sensibilisieren und Barrierefreiheit niedrigschwellig in Ihr digitales Ökosystem integrieren: von ersten Erfahrungen mit dem BFSG über den Umgang mit Prüfberichten bis hin zur Frage, wie sich automatisierte Tests sinnvoll in bestehende Prozesse integrieren lassen. Ihre Fragen greifen wir im Chat auf und beantworten sie während der Veranstaltung. Digitale Barrierefreiheit gelingt, wenn Menschen ihr Wissen teilen und voneinander lernen. Am GAAD 2026 bringen wir Fachleute, Menschen mit Praxisbezug und Interessierte zusammen – mit einem Ziel: digitale Angebote zugänglicher zu machen. Machen Sie mit. Das erwartet Sie

• Praxis-Insights: Erfahren Sie aus erster Hand, welche Lehren wir ein Jahr nach dem BFSG-Start gezogen haben.
• Strategische Integration: Lernen Sie, wie Sie Barrierefreiheit fest in Ihrer Unternehmenskultur und Organisation verankern.
• Hands-on Lösungen: Was tun, wenn der Prüfbericht vorliegt? Wir zeigen den Weg von der Analyse zur Umsetzung.
• Technologie-Fokus: Einblicke in die Automatisierung von Barrierefreiheits-Tests für moderne Websites.
• Experten-Chat: Stellen Sie Ihre Fragen während der Veranstaltung im Chat – unsere Fachleute antworten.

1. Dostępność aplikacji mobilnych
2. Aplikacje wspomagające dostępność dla osób ze szczególnymi potrzebami
3. Pytania i odpowiedzi

The Association of People with Disability (APD), founded in 1959, is a national leader in disability inclusion, rights, and rehabilitation. APD works across urban and rural India, empowering children and adults with diverse disabilities through education, skilling, livelihoods, rehabilitation, advocacy, and community-based programs. Rooted in human rights and social justice, APD partners with government, academia, corporations, and communities to advance accessibility, inclusion, and independent living. Over six decades, APD has transformed thousands of lives with evidence-based, participatory and scalable models of inclusion, leadership and inclusive solutions across sectors. Taking forward our work on disability inclusion, on the occasion of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), APD is organising two policy-focused roundtable discussions on 21 May 2026 at the India International Centre, New Delhi. Session 1: Roundtable on Disability Inclusion in ESG Frameworks This session will bring together corporates, development partners, ESG practitioners, and sector experts to deliberate on strengthening the integration of disability inclusion within ESG, CSR, and responsible business frameworks. Session 2: Policy Dialogue on Developing a Disability Indicator Framework This dialogue will convene government institutions, development agencies, civil society organisations, and data practitioners to discuss approaches to embedding disability inclusion within governance systems, public policy processes, and SDG-aligned monitoring frameworks.