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Welcome to our May issue of the Accessibility Minute Newsletter! This newsletter is produced by the ���������� Digital Accessibility Office (DAO) and covers one accessibility skill or topic per month. Please visit the DAO website to access past newsletters. As always, thank you for taking a minute (or two) to read.

Free Digital Content Accessibility Training

Before we jump into this month's newsletter, we are excited to announce that we are hosting a free, open digital content accessibility training session for all of our Accessibility Minute Newsletter subscribers and LinkedIn followers on June 17th, 2025! This 90-minute virtual training session will cover foundational digital accessibility practices that should be applied to all digital content. The training is platform-agnostic and beginner-friendly, requiring no prior knowledge of digital accessibility. Additional information is included in the registration form. Register now to claim your spot – .

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 2025

On May 15, 2025, we celebrated the 14th annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)— a worldwide event that focuses on spreading awareness about digital access for people with disabilities. Whether you create documents for your organization, post on social media, share digital content outwardly to the public, and so on, GAAD is a great reminder that digital accessibility is everyone’s responsibility.

With that in mind, this month’s newsletter will highlight GAAD’s mission: to get everyone talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion. Following are some actionable steps you can take to promote the core tenets of GAAD:

Learn About Different Disabilities

Digital accessibility is essential for individuals with disabilities, such as visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive disabilities, as well as temporary disabilities, like a broken arm, eye surgery, or post-concussion symptoms.

Learn how end users with different disabilities engage with digital environments and how digital accessibility impacts a variety of users by watching Although some of these videos may be a bit dated compared to today's advanced technology, they do a great job of showing the real impacts of digital accessibility for a multitude of end users.

Understand the Basics of Digital Accessibility

Understanding the basics of implementing digital accessibility practices into your content is the first step to enhancing access to all end users. Some of the basics include proper heading structure, adding alt text to images, ensuring you have sufficient color contrast, adding table headers to your tables to ensure accurate keyboard navigation, and more. We recommend reading through our Content Accessibility Fundamentals resource and . Although this is an introduction to “web” accessibility, please note that these practices also apply to digital documents, social media, and other digital content.

Start Conversations About Accessibility

GAAD is about awareness, and you don’t need to be an expert to make a difference. Some ways you can start these conversations include bringing up accessibility during design discussions, asking vendors about accessibility in procurement processes, or encouraging colleagues to use accessible tools and language. We recommend reading through our September 2024 newsletter, “Advocating for and Implementing Accessibility Practices in an Organization,” which outlines key approaches and questions that can help you advocate, prioritize, and implement digital accessibility in your workspace.

While the topics we've highlighted this month may be familiar, they remain essential pillars of effective digital accessibility efforts. As we took time to recognize Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), we're reminded that lasting impact comes from the ongoing, everyday actions we take to promote, implement, and enhance accessibility. Let’s carry this momentum forward—because accessibility isn’t just a moment; it’s something that continues all year long.

DAO News

The DAO presents a tri-annual Digital Accessibility Buff Award, recognizing ���������� students, staff, and faculty who have demonstrated noteworthy digital accessibility practices and fostered an inclusive digital environment for individuals with disabilities. We are excited to share that Stanley Ly, Director of the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program, and Steve Eles, the Program Manager of Assessment Applications, have been selected as the Digital Accessibility Buff Award winners for the May 2025 cycle! Read more about why Steve Elesand Stanley Ly are our Digital Accessibility Buff Award Winners!