Academic Technology Services Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 2023

For Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), celebrated on Thursday, May 18, 2023, this year, we invite you as an individual to take action to improve digital accessibility. Following are some suggestions and recommendations for free resources to get started or learn more for students, faculty and staff. 

What can students do?

• Learn more about and take part in the #CleanUptheWeb Challenge.
• Last year, Amherst College partnered with Deque for digital accessibility. Take advantage of the training Deque offers via free registration and access to the Axe-con 2023 digital accessibility conference.
• Donate towards or learn about creating an audio description to make a movie, TV show, or video recording of a play more accessible.
• Read about how the Fall 2019 course Disability Media explored creating audio descriptions using YouDescribe. This course has been offered again in Spring 2023, talk with the instructor, Professor Pooja Rangan, or with fellow students who took the class. 
• Learn more about audio description from the American Council of the Blind's The Audio Description Project website.  
• Learn from 3PlayMedia's Ultimate Guide to Audio Description
• Keep accessibility in mind when creating social media posts using the Office of Communication's guide. 
• Inquire with  Amherst College Accessibility Services about working as a note-taker if there is a need for it in a class you are taking next year.
• Request live captions in Zoom be turned on when participating in a Zoom meeting and allow captions to be turned on if you host a Zoom meeting.
• If you are creating a video or audio recording to share with others, plan to incorporate captions and a transcript.

What can faculty do?

• Check out our resource page on digital accessibility for teaching and learning.
• Learn about how other Amherst faculty have incorporated inclusive practices using technology into their teaching and consider if there are practices you can adapt and adopt.
• Request live captions in Zoom be turned on when participating in a Zoom meeting and allow captions to be turned on if hosting a Zoom meeting.
• Learn about Moodle's accessibility features and make use of the accessibility checker.
  

What can staff do?

• If you create or maintain content on the Amherst website make sure you are familiar with accessibility considerations, including alt text for images. Make your webpages accessible provides a helpful guide. 
• When sending out email communication, including email newsletters, keep accessibility in mind using the Office of Communication's Accessible Email Newsletters guide. Also, use, or ask for help using, the accessibility features available with email applications such as MailChimp and emma.
  Instructions and tips for email marketing and newsletters are available for MailChimp accessibility and emma accessibility.
• Learn more about the accessibility features built into Google's G Suite applications and check out Google's tips to make documents and presentations more accessible. 
• Follow the college's Social Media Policy and keep accessibility in mind when creating social media posts using the Office of Communication's Accessible Social Media guide. 
• Consider accessibility when recommending free products or procuring a new digital product or service including Apps, browser extensions, devices, software, digital platforms, and website services. Review our accessible technology recommendations for purchasing and which also can be applied to evaluating free digital resources.
• Take advantage of the college resource LinkedIn Learning to take one of the LinkedIn Learning courses or sections of a course that cover accessibility material.
  Please note that you must have a login with your Amherst credentials to LinkedIn Learning to use the link to the collected materials we provide here. First, visit our LinkedIn Learning access instructions page, then use the link provided here to review the collection of courses.
• Learn more about disability and workplaces from Adam Grant's podcast episode "It's Time to Stop Ignoring Disability" (link to the transcript and the podcast audio). 
• Last year, Amherst College partnered with Deque for digital accessibility. Take advantage of the training Deque offers via free registration and access to the Axe-con 2023 digital accessibility conference.

Questions or need help to get started? Contact us at AskIt@amherst.edu.