GAAD 2022 – Thursday 19 May

GAAD (or Global Accessibility Awareness Day) is an annual awareness day aimed at getting everyone thinking, talking and learning about digital access and inclusion. Read about the origins of GAAD and how others are marking the event.

GAAD 2022 is Thursday 19 May and you are invited to take part by:

• Considering how accessible the digital information is that you provide.
• Exploring the digital accessibility support and guidance available at Oxford.
• Making a commitment to do one thing to increase digital accessibility in your area.
• Encouraging colleagues to also take part in GAAD 2022.

1. What can you do to mark GAAD 2022?

Attend a free digital accessibility webinar

Attend a free webinar with an assistive technology expert and find out how you can improve the accessibility of your digital content. Follow the links below for further details and booking information.

• Digital accessibility: Practical solutions for digital content – Thursday 19 May, 12.30–2pm on Teams
• Digital accessibility: What is ALT about? How to provide text alternatives to images, graphics and charts – Thursday 26 May, 12.30-2pm on Teams
• Digital accessibility: Blackboard Ally in practice – Tuesday 7 June, 12.30–1.30pm on Teams

Take action to fix one thing

• Take 5 minutes and review the accessibility of your Outlook emails, including your email signature.
• Take 10 minutes and run a presentation or document through the MS Office accessibility checker to review how accessible it is. You may not have time to fix any issues straight away, but it will be helpful to see if the checker identifies anything.
• Take 10 minutes to review your Blackboard Ally Course Accessibility report on one of your Canvas courses, then make a simple change.
• Take 15 minutes and review the accessibility statement on your website, then make a plan for addressing any issues. See the University’s web accessibility guidance for more information.
• Take 30 minutes and check the alt text for images on your website and in your documents. Before you do, consider attending the University’s What is it ALT about? webinar on Monday 26 May (12.30-2pm).

Book an Editalong – a free consultation on readability and accessibility

Would you like to improve the readability and accessibility of one of your documents, presentations, or webpages? You can book a free Editalong session with Dominik Lukeš, Assistive Technology Officer at the Centre for Teaching and Learning.

There are two types of sessions:

1. Individual 15 minute consultation – to discuss an individual document, presentation or webpage.
2. Group 60 minute workshop – to discuss several documents together to learn from each other.

During the session, you will be taken step by step through the material you submit ahead of time and identify and fix potential issues.

Follow this link to book an Editalong session.

2. Read more about accessibility 

Read about common accessibility issues in Canvas and how to prevent them

With the introduction of Blackboard Ally, editors now see a report on possible accessibility issues in their Canvas courses. Many of them can be easily avoided in the future by taking simple steps. Read about the five most common issues and how to prevent them.

View the Centre for Teaching and Learning’s guidance on accessible and inclusive teaching

The Centre for Teaching and Learning’s guidance on making teaching and learning resources accessible to students, including resources on:

• Accessible and inclusive teaching
• Creating accessible videos
• Creating accessible handouts and documents
• Creating accessible PDFs
• Creating accessible PowerPoint presentations

You can also read the Oxford Teaching Idea on establishing a learning environment that is inclusive for all students.

Visit the Communications Hub to learn about accessibility best practice for your website

Visit the University’s Communications Hub provided by central services for guidance for website content, such as general accessibility advice, guidance on social media accessibility and accessibility training and resources.

The hub also includes details of government requirements for making your website accessible and specific requirements for public sector bodies.