Every 3rd Thursday of May is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Many of us in the Software Testing community attend, participate, and/or hold events to help get the word out. The inclusion of those with various disabilities or impairments to have optimal digital access is the primary objective of this day.

In the “age of information” with the internet and myriad of digital platforms, it has never been more important to maintain access as a basic fundamental. Technology has made leaps and bounds each year, and it can often move so fast that it overlooks accessibility. Even now with current events leading to people working from home with digital technology, it highlights how vital it is for everyone. Kids attending school remotely, buying PPE for healthcare workers from a website, accessing, unemployment benefits and other online activities give credence to digital access being essential for us all.

At Foxhole QA, we find it is our responsibility to facilitate quality software by always asking about accessibility (a11y as an abbreviation). There are standards out there in the web world that can confuse people with their acronyms, such as 508 compliance, ADA testing, and WCAG 2.1. Don’t let it scare you away from knowing that the core is simply making digital pieces available to a wide range of users.

Think of your friends and family who may have a simple color vision deficiency and can’t see text on a website because the contrast of the text and background was too similar in colors. Or those who might rely on screen reading assistive technology to read the context of images, buttons, and page content. Get a discussion going or share on social media for Global Accessibility Awareness day.

With over 160 events and activities on the GAAD website, I hope we can all participate in some way.