26 Apr 2019 | Accessibility
Let’s start with the annual ONE MILLION page giveaway, and the new online webinars, a pragmatic approach to compliance. You can find all the details below!
On Thursday 16th May it will be the 8th Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), the annual event which does so much to raise the profile of accessibility across the globe. This always takes place on the third Thursday in May and at Sitemorse we always try to play our part; we want to drive awareness of accessibility standards to improve the user experience for those who use assistive technologies. We also want to encourage organisations to make accessibility more seriously and move towards compliance.
What is GAAD?
GAAD was born out of social media exchanges between Joe Devon, an LA-based web developer, and Jennison Asuncion, a Canadian accessibility professional. The two saw an urgent need for more digital teams to prioritise accessibility and so GAAD was born.
GAAD’s target audience are those working in design, development, usability, and other related communities who build, shape, fund and influence technology and its use. One issue that the people behind GAAD recognise is that there ia knowledge gap around accessibility issues and applying the appropriate standards. This can prove to be a critical stumbling block to things getting done.
GAAD states “While people may be interested in the topic of making technology accessible and usable by persons with disabilities, the reality is that they often do not know how or where to start.”
Where should you start with accessibility?
This is something we’ve long-recognised at Sitemorse. Our clients and other organisations we speak to advise us that they simply have no idea where to start with accessibility compliance. What adjustments should they make and where should they start? What are the issues I really need to fix?
The guidelines seem complicated. This makes the task of fixing critical accessibility issues appear onerous and feel like a significant time investment. And when you don’t know to start, getting started on accessibility gets parked.
Hearing this time and time again was one of the reasons we developed Prioritisation Intelligence, Sitemorse’s unique feature which highlights those actions and urgent issues that will help bring about the biggest improvements first. The priorities are identified and then distributed by role ensuring that the most appropriate actions are sent to the correct user type, for example, developers or editors. Because Sitemorse highlights specific accessibility issues and also has built-in instructional videos, it’s an excellent way to upskill your digital team about the nuts and bolts of accessibility. They really do learn on the job.
By introducing an easy way for teams and individuals to identify what to work on first, we’ve found we’ve removed a significant barrier, enabling organisations and their digital teams to take those critical, pragmatic steps towards accessibility compliance, and helping teams to understand accessibility issues.
Taking the pragmatic approach - forthcoming Webinars
For GAAD 2019, we we’ll be sharing our technology with more and more people. We will be holding a selection of online webinars which are designed to introduce the accessibility priorities within Sitemorse and how to deal with them.
Pick your webinar and book your place:
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Date |
Time |
Link |
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Wednesday 1st May |
16:00 BST, 11:00 EDT |
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Thursday 2nd May |
09:30 BST, 04:30 EDT |
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Wednesday 8th May |
16:00 BST, 11:00 EDT |
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Thursday 9th May |
09:30 BST, 04:30 EDT |
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Wednesday 15th May |
16:00 BST, 11:00 EDT |
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Thursday 16th May |
09:30 BST, 04:30 EDT |
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Thursday 16th May |
12:00 BST, 07:00 EDT |
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Thursday 16th May |
14:30 BST, 09:30 EDT |
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Thursday 16th May |
16:00 BST, 11:00 EDT |
To join the webinar, just click the relevant link to register your interest and to receive the joining instructions for the webinar.
The webinar will run for approximately 30 minutes, including time for any questions.
For each individual joining the webinar Sitemorse will also provide a complimentary assessment on one website. Of course, there are no strings attached to participating in the webinars.
The Sitemorse Million Page Giveaway
As we have done in previous years, we will also be bringing back our exciting million page giveaway. We’re giving away a free assessment on one website per organisation that follows us on our social media channels and shares a post.
To qualify on Twitter it’s simple, you just need to be following the Sitemorse Twitter account, @Sitemorse, and like and share this post: GAAD Tweet
To qualify on LinkedIn, it’s just as easy, ensure you’re following our page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sitemorse/ (select the three horizontal dots on the right of the page and select ‘Follow’) and then like and share this post: GAAD LinkedIn Post
Sitemorse will then contact you to arrange the website to be run and distribute the results by Friday 31st May. Entries to the giveaway closes on Friday 24th May. Again, there are no other strings attached.
For any questions on our GAAD events, please contact mhay@Sitemorse.com
We hope you enjoy 2019 Global Accessibility Awareness Day!