A green and blue toolkit that reads GAAD surrounded by icons that represent various accessibility tools. Below, blue text reads: Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Disability:IN sponsored by Microsoft.

Accessibility is at the core of disability inclusion. Today, companies are expected to continue to improve access to digital content, technologies, and experiences for employees and customers alike. On May 16th, 2024, Disability:IN will be celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) with a full day of virtual events on digital accessibility featuring panelists from around the world. 

Join IN to hear perspectives from companies and individuals around the globe who are driving this work. 

Disability:IN’s 2024 GAAD Events: Accessibility Around the Globe

If you are an employee of a Disability:IN Corporate Partner Company, register for the 2024 GAAD virtual events sponsored by Microsoft via the Partner Portal. Please contact [email protected] with any questions or if you have forgotten the Partner Portal password.

Special thanks to Microsoft for sponsoring this year’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day Programming.

Our sponsor Microsoft shared with us some of the accessibility use cases of their new, powerful generative AI tool ‘Copilot.’ Embedded into Microsoft 365 apps like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Teams, Copilot unlocks productivity and creativity. Disabled folks can use an expansive set up prompts to instruct Copilot to summarize large text, build slide decks with accessible best practices built in, or extract information on trends from an Excel document.

GAAD attendees enjoyed clips from Microsoft’s ‘This is my Copilot’ video series on Youtube showcasing demos from disabled Microsoft employees like Jeremy Curry, showing how he uses Copilot as a low vision engineer. Watch Hector Minto, Microsoft’s Lead Accessibility Evangelist, show Priscilla Mensah, Microsoft’s Accessibility NGO Program Manager, some of the many assistive use cases of Copilot here! Give Copilot a try! Try some of Hector’s accessibility prompts, and get in touch with Microsoft’s Enterprise Disability Answer Desk, eDAD, at [email protected] if you have any questions!

Accessibility for All in Asia and the Pacific

Thursday, May 16, 2024 – 11:00 AM Japan Standard Time (JST)

  • Moderator: Priscilla Mensah, Accessibility NGO Program Manager, Microsoft Accessibility, Microsoft
  • Sam Giese, Fiserv
  • Robert Holt, Managing Director & Executive Director Neurodiversity ERG, Accenture
  • Kenny Singh, Director, Cyber Security Customer Success, Microsoft
  • Marc Lester Yu, Talent Acquisition Leader Asia, Expedia

Accessibility in the EMEA Region: How to Make Your Digital and Physical Spaces More Inclusive

Thursday, May 16, 2024 – 1:30 PM British Standard Time (BST)

  • Moderator & Panelist: Malintha Fernando, Head of Digital Experience and Accessibility, HSBC
  • Aurelia Deflandre, Account Executive – Google Customer Solutions Neurodiversity Advocacy Lead Ireland, Google
  • Ioana Tanase, Accessibility Program Manager, Microsoft
  • Noleen M Williams, Africa Employee Experience Leader, EY

Accessibility and Disability Inclusion in the LATAM Region: Challenges and Opportunities

Thursday, May 16, 2024 – 10:30 AM Eastern

  • Moderator: Jeff Wissel, Chief Accessibility Officer, Disability:IN
  • Maurice Alarcon Mariaca, Senior Customer Success Account Manager, Microsoft
  • Christhyl Ceriche, HR Business Analyst 2, Oracle
  • Ericka Henriquez Monge, HR Manager, Intel
  • Omar Ramirez Alberto, Senior UX Designer | IT Digital Employee Experience, Honeywell

Accessibility for All: US, Canada & Mexico

Thursday, May 16, 2024 – 1:30 PM Eastern

  • Moderator & Panelist: Stephanie Cadieux, Chief Accessibility Officer, Canada
  • Laurie Allen, Senior Accessibility Technology Evangelist, Microsoft
  • Steve Framil, Corporate Global Head of Accessibility, Merck
  • Jessica Guzman, VP Trade, JPMorgan
  • Jenny Leland, Program Manager, Inclusive Design, Starbucks
A row of icons representing various elements of digital accessibility including alt text, virtual meetings, closed captions, Audio Description, Camel Case hashtags, and a checklist.

Resources for Celebrating #GAAD365

Check out the following Resources from Microsoft:

Check out the following Resources from Disability:IN: 

Two globe icons with speech bubbles and accessibility symbol.

Resources from Our GAAD Sponsor: Microsoft

blue background behind white text reading: Disability:IN CMO & CCO Coalition Resource Hub. To the right, a professional who is Blind listens to the screen reader on his phone while holding a white cane.

In celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), the CMO & CCO Coalition is proud to present a new Resource Library to help drive disability and inclusion across the marketing & communications field.

Visit the Coalition’s Resource Hub

Icon of six silhouettes with speech bubbles

Learn more about Disability:IN’s Accessibility Leadership Committee, a diverse group of business leaders sharing knowledge and best practices to enhance accessibility policies and practices across organizations. 

Share: Spread the Word on Social Media

Follow Disability:IN on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Facebook as we amplify accessibility resources throughout GAAD. Share this article on social media to help drive awareness with your network and be sure to tag @Disability:IN so we can engage with your posts. 

A green and blue toolkit that reads GAAD surrounded by icons that represent various accessibility tools. Below, blue text reads: Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Disability:IN sponsored by Microsoft.
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