Global Accessibility Awareness Day: Trends and Best Practices

The Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is celebrated on the third Thursday of May. And this year it is on May 15th.

The objective behind GAAD is to increase awareness of the importance of global accessibility and put emphasis on improving the digital experience for all.

It also aims to highlight why digital accessibility and inclusion are essential and how assistive technologies can be used to help people with disabilities.

Understanding Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Global Accessibility Awareness Day focuses on making sure everyone, including over one billion people with disabilities, can use digital services.

The idea behind GAAD is to get people talking, thinking, and learning about how to make websites, mobile apps, and other digital services more inclusive. It plays a key role in promoting online accessibility by raising awareness and emphasizing the importance of inclusive digital experiences.

Why Is Digital Accessibility Important?

As we approach GAAD, it’s vital to reflect on the growing importance of digital accessibility.

The Sixth Annual State of Digital Accessibility Report shows the growing significance of digital accessibility.

• Digital accessibility adoption is increasing: More than 80% of respondents say their organization has a digital accessibility policy.

Additionally, 83% of respondents say they have a dedicated digital accessibility budget, and more than 60% plan to maintain or increase their budget in the year ahead.

• Organizations struggle with portfolio-wide digital accessibility: Respondents identify managing accessibility across diverse digital assets as the major challenge for their digital accessibility programs, with variable confidence in the accessibility of different assets.
• Organizations may not feel urgent enough about the European Accessibility Act (EAA): Although 73% of respondents believe EAA applies to their organization, just 55% claim they have started taking steps to guarantee compliance.

This discrepancy between awareness and action may suggest that certain organizations are not well equipped to fulfill the compliance deadline, as enforcement will start in June 2025 for any company with clients in the EU.

• Three key elements- policy, budget, and accountability: Organizations with a good accessibility policy, dedicated budget, and accountable party are 75% more likely to have leaders who are “highly supportive” of digital accessibility compared to those with only some of these aspects.

Digital accessibility has been shown to reduce legal risk and increase revenue by roughly 20% and 70%, respectively.

• AI and automated remediation: 79% of respondents use AI technologies to generate alt text and accessible code as part of their accessibility initiatives. Similarly, 79% of respondents prioritize AI capabilities when acquiring new digital accessibility solutions.

Almost 90% of respondents say automated remediation technology improves the effectiveness of digital accessibility.

• Proactive accessibility pays off: Respondents from organizations that address accessibility early on are more likely to say that accessibility has improved a variety of important business priorities, such as customer acquisition, brand reputation, and user experience.

Latest Regulatory Accessibility Trends and How to Prepare For Them?

As we near GAAD, it’s important to acknowledge the shifting landscape of accessibility regulations.

Here are the latest regulatory accessibility trends.

• European Accessibility Act: By June 2025, businesses operating in the EU must ensure their digital platforms meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Non-compliance can lead to legal repercussions and market exclusion.
• Colorado HB-21: This law mandates that all state digital services in Colorado adhere to WCAG 2.1 standards by July 2025, setting a precedent for other states to follow.

GAAD acts as an opportunity to remind businesses of the legal push and the need to prepare by integrating accessibility early in the software development life cycle.

Here is how you can prepare for the upcoming accessibility trends:

Shift from Compliance-Only to User-Centered Accessibility

More organizations are moving beyond ticking WCAG checkboxes and focusing on real-world usability for people with diverse disabilities.

• Test with real assistive technologies (screen readers, screen magnifiers, voice assistants, etc)
• Prioritize user experience over pure code validation.
• Involve diverse users early and get their feedback.

Rise of AI-Powered Accessibility Tools

AI is now helping to detect patterns, auto-generate alt text, and simulate user experiences for accessibility issues.

• Use AI tools as an assistant, not a replacement.
• Validate AI-generated outputs with human review.
• Stay updated on Microsoft Accessibility Insights, Google’s Belonging, and other major accessibility sites of the product companies.

Accessibility for Neurodivergent and Cognitive Disabilities

More focus is being given to cognitive and neurodiversity (e.g., autism, ADHD, dyslexia), not just visual/motor impairments.

• Check for readability, consistent layout, and reduced distractions.
• Test for text clarity and cognitive load.
• Provide options: e.g., adjustable font sizes, simplified modes, or easy language toggles.

Mobile Accessibility is a Must-Have

As mobile usage dominates, accessibility on mobile apps (especially native Android/iOS) is getting more attention.

• Test with platform-specific screen readers (TalkBack, VoiceOver).
• Validate touch targets, gestures, and orientation changes.
• Include dark mode and haptic feedback considerations.

Accessibility is Going “Shift Left”

Accessibility is being integrated earlier into the Software Development Life Cycle.

• Collaborate with developers on unit tests with accessibility linting.
• Educate product owners and designers about inclusive design.
• Include accessibility scenarios in acceptance criteria and BDD stories.

Legal Push: EAA, and More

As we read before, the regulations around Stricter enforcement and deadlines are pushing teams to get proactive.

• Understand local/global compliance standards.
• Perform periodic accessibility audits.
• Ensure documentation is up to date.

Accessibility Automation in CI/CD

Accessibility testing tools for test automation are increasingly being integrated into CI pipelines.

• Use tools like Pa11y and Axe Devtools CLI for automated scans.
• Include accessibility gates in build pipelines (e.g., fail builds on WCAG violations).

Best Practices for Implementing Accessibility

With reference to Global Accessibility Awareness Day, let’s look at some of the best practices for implementing accessibility in digital services.

• Design with accessibility in mind: Include accessibility elements from the beginning. Ensure that goods are designed with accessibility requirements in mind and that all pictures, buttons, and text fields have adequate color contrast and are labeled appropriately.
• Make text legible: Use legible fonts such as Arial, Calibri, Tahoma, Times New Roman, and Helvetica, as well as adequate font size and color contrast between text and backdrop.
• Refrain from using animations: People with cognitive difficulties may struggle to focus on a website with a lot of animation and movement.
• Inclusive texts: Make sure to use inclusive texts and not to hurt someone using harsh language.
• Use an organized page structure and descriptive headings: Make use of a well-organized page structure and informative headings.
• Provide text alternatives for non-text elements such as images, audio, and video: To convey the function or context of the non-text components, use alternative text.
• Use keyboard commands: Individuals unable to operate a mouse should be provided with shortcuts and access keys. Using these shortcuts and access keys can assist visitors in swiftly and simply navigating the website.
• Design with images in mind: Use alternative descriptive (alt text) to help those using screen readers access what’s pictured.
• Provide transcripts: Make sure that all multimedia, such as audio and video, is transcribed for people with hearing impairments.
• Test for accessibility: Run accessibility tests to verify they satisfy the latest accessibility standards. This can help you identify any issues and allow you to fix them.

For example, AI-native cloud testing platforms like LambdaTest come with an accessibility testing suite that lets you perform manual and automated accessibility testing across different environments.

To get started, check out this documentation on accessibility testing with LambdaTest.

• Assess current accessibility needs: Analyze what requirements your organization has to ensure that it fulfills accessibility standards.
• Set policies: Implement written policies that encourage and reinforce accessibility.
• Review regulatory guidelines: Review accessibility-related legislation and regulations regularly.
• Provide feedback channels: Allow customers and stakeholders to submit comments on the accessibility of your company or organization.
• Educate customers: Raise accessibility awareness among your customers and communities around you.

Note

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Conclusion

Being differently-abled is a significant public health concern that must be addressed to ensure that all individuals, regardless of physical or mental abilities, have equal opportunities to live their lives to the fullest.

Accessible content also ensures that persons with disabilities may engage fully in the digital era and purchase on the same platform as everyone else. It is high time to make the digital world accessible to everybody.

I believe that we all have some physical or mental limitations. We all go through so much in the hustling culture. So, why the disparity?

We can promote justice and equity in our society by making the world more accessible to people with disabilities ❤️

Pricilla Bilavendran

https://direct.me/bpricilla

Pricilla is a Passionate Test Engineer with more than a decade of experience in Quality Assurance. She has experience with different flavors of Testing like Functional, EDI, ETL, Automation, and API Testing. She is a Postman Supernova and speaks at various events regarding APIs and Postman. She is passionate about Cloud computing and is an “AWS Community Builder.” She strongly advocates for diversity and inclusion. She believes in coexistence and harmony. She is a certified mentor and helps many test engineers through her mentoring sessions. She is an active community contributor through her blogs, webinars, and workshops. She staunchly believes in Karma!

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