May 16, 2022

11th Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)

Making Accessibility a Priority!

Disability is never the problem; the problem is denying equal experience to all!

Have you ever wondered how deprived those with special abilities are because your data and information are not accessible? We have! And that’s why the immense need to make every content accessible has been our mission since day one.

We are marking the 11th Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) on May 19, 2022. Wondering what it is? Let us walk you through this – This awareness day promotes digital accessibility and inclusion on the global grounds with a focus on delivering top-notch digital experiences for each and every internet user, regardless of any disability.

“Someone with a disability must be able to experience web-based services, content, and other digital products with the same successful outcome as those without disabilities.”
– GAAD Foundation

Do you know? In the United States, approximately 26 percent of adults (i.e., 61 million people); and 40 percent of 65+ year old residents have some or the other form of disability (Researched by CDC). One billion people in the world live with some form of disability, yet it was detected that almost 100 percent of the one million website home pages, tested under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) were non-compliant (Source: WebAIM).

Awareness on equal accessibility has gone up for sure but still, there is much more to be done in order to practically bring the concept into action. Some of the top industry leaders from various sections have come up with awareness programs and advertisements.

For example,

  • Apple’s first prime-time ads on accessibility
  • Google created an advertisement where a man who is deaf calls his son for the first time using the Live Caption on his Pixel phone, wow!
  • Amazon’s ad on Brendan, an employee (in real) who is deaf.

Excellent messages were circulated but what impact did these have on other corporates? That still remains a question!

Then what are we doing to make accessibility smoother, better, and above all equal for all of them? At Apex CoVantage, it is nothing new; We always have been an advocate of born-digital content that is accessible to one and all. For the last 33+ years we help organizations edit, modify, create and recreate accessible digital assets.

While Global Accessibility Awareness Day has greatly advanced through discussions, awareness, and education regarding digital accessibility, there are still many more miles to go. We are making sure to contribute in the best possible way, every day! What about you?

With Apex CoVantage, produce accessible data from the very beginning or edit your existing content to meet Section 508 (ADA) requirements and WCAG 2.0 compliance. Click here to know more

Come, together let’s make ‘accessibility a priority’ through versatility!