Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is celebrated around the world annually on the third Thursday of May. The event aspires to raise awareness of the importance and impact of accessibility, share our progress, and renew our commitment to cultivating inclusion.
“Amplifying Accessibility” was the theme for the University of Minnesota’s second systemwide GAAD event held on May 18, 2023, which had more than 460 registrants from all five system campuses, other higher education institutions, and organizations around the country. The event engaged participants in conversation and sparked thinking and learning about amplifying accessibility with sessions that are relevant to everyone’s work in teaching and learning.
Program Recap and Video Recordings
This year's event included three separate tracks with nine sessions on a variety of topics, as well as a keynote by Lydia X. Z. Brown on disability justice action in higher education. Lydia is an activist, writer, and adjunct lecturer for Disability Studies Program and Women’s and Gender Studies at Georgetown University.
Track A Pedagogy and Education
The pedagogy and education track featured speakers from multiple disciplines and higher education institutions discussing pedagogy in the performing arts, alternative text for graphs, and math accessibility.
- Session A1: Disability and Inclusive Pedagogy in the Performing Arts
Speaker: Elizabeth McLain, Instructor of Musicology at Virginia Tech - Session A2: Alternate Text for Scientific Graphics
Speaker: Madeleine Rothberg, she/her, WGBH National Center for Accessible Media - Session A3: Math Accessibility
Speakers: Brian Richwine, Adjunct Professor at Indiana University, and Mary Stores, Principal Accessibility Analyst at Indiana University
Track B Research and Community
The research and community track featured two faculty and student panels on amplifying accessibility in education and in research. The final session explored the ongoing problem of inaccessibility in digital resources and the importance of incorporating critical accessibility.
- Session B1:Working Together: Teachers and Students on Amplifying Accessibility
Speakers: Gordon Legge, Walter Wu, Ben Munson, Jessica Grittner - Session B2:Accessible Research Panel
Speakers: Erin Durban and Jessica Cooley - Session B3:Empowering Access: A Disability Studies Perspective on Critical Accessibility and Digital Data Action
Speaker: Randy Colon
Track C Digital Accessibility
The digital accessibility track featured diverse topics on data visualization, PDF remediation, and trauma-informed design.
- Session C1: Data Visualization
Speaker: Doug Schepers, Director at Fizz Studio - Session C2: PDF Accessibility for Beginners: How to check and update PDFs for usability with text-to-speech tools
Speaker: Ann Kaste, Electronic Resources Librarian at Minitex - Session C3: Trauma-Informed Design
Speaker: Eriol Fox, they/them, Ph.D. researcher and Human Rights Centered Designer
Gratitude’s
The GAAD event committee would like to thank our sponsors for the generous funding:
- Academic Support Resources (ASR)
- Center for Educational Innovation (CEI)
- Disability Resources Center (DRC)
- University Libraries
- Office of Information Technology (OIT)
- University of Minnesota Duluth Chancellor's Office
- Office of Equity and Diversity (OED)
- Critical Disability Studies Collective (CDSC)
We would also like to thank our presenters. We so appreciate your time and commitment to Amplifying Accessibility and cultivating inclusion at the University of Minnesota and beyond.
A special thanks to the Tech Support team for providing technical support and to the Disability Resource Center’s access consultants and captioners.
For full information about the sessions and to read more details about the event or visit the GAA 2023 Website.
To join the Ambassadors Team and be notified about future events visit the A11y-Group page and select join.