Smudging It Up: Celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2022
As we celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2022 today, let me be the first to thank all those involved for continuing to do your part to leave your print on a more accessible world.
“We are helping to leave our prints on a more accessible world by incorporating accessibility best practices into the QA testing we perform for Marist College”
Part of the team from Marist College
(pictured left to right: Sai Chandrika Neradabilli; Ramana Reddy Battula; Dede Hourican; and Ayyapu Naidu Sankranthi)
Speaking from first-hand experience, accessibility awareness can sometimes be a messy business, an imperfect science, whether you are attempting to change the opinions or actions of one individual, but especially when it comes to pursuing the lofty goal of complete digital accessibility on a global scale, which is why high-profile events like these are so important.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is an annual celebration observed on the third Thursday of May each year. GAAD focuses on digital access and inclusion for more than one billion people worldwide with disabilities and/or impairments. The first GAAD event was observed in May 2012 and was inspired by a blog post by Los Angeles-based web developer Joe Devon. Devon worked with Jennison Asuncion, an accessibility professional from Toronto, to co-found GAAD.
According to its website, "The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) access/inclusion and people with different disabilities."
For the past two years Accessiversity has celebrated Global Accessibility Awareness Day with featured content on our “Tales of the Reluctant Blind” blog that examines some different aspect of web accessibility (you can click on the following links to view our past GAAD-inspired blog posts for 2020 and 2021…)
Well, this year we thought we would do something a little different, a fun and inspirational campaign that could involve more of our extended Accessiversity family in the Global Accessibility Awareness Day celebration.
When I first introduced Accessiversity’s new tagline back In the July 2021 Knapp Strategic newsletter, “Leave your print on a more accessible world!” was meant to be More than just some catchy slogan to try and tie in with the multi-colored thumbprint graphic in our logo, our new tagline was intended to be a call to action for everybody to do their part to make the world a more accessible place (well, at least their little corner of the world, but that was exactly the point…)
We knew that the sort of change that organizations like GAAD and Accessiversity is advocating for will require a concerted effort of like-minded organizations and people who value continuous improvement and understand that accessibility is not a one-and-done type of proposition.
In other words, what we needed was an army of people leaving their prints all over a more accessible world, an unwavering, unapologetic volunteer force of super passionate people really smudging it up!
So last year when I contracted with D & M Silkscreening & Embroidery to have some Accessiversity t-shirts made for the new Accessiversity tutorial video series I was preparing to launch, I had them make up some extra shirts to give away to family, friends, current/former clients, and others I felt could help amplify Accessiversity’s message and help to broaden our reach.
Which brings us to the idea for this year’s GAAD-inspired blog post…
The concept was pretty simple, I would ask all of the people who I have gifted Accessiversity t-shirts to over this past year to take a picture of themselves wearing their Accessiversity t-shirts, and provide a quote that completes the sentence, “I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by…”
The response from our extended Accessiversity family exceeded all of my expectations. Not only was I blown away by the sheer volume of people who chose to send in photos/quotes, but the number of people who took the time to extend their sincere thanks and gratitude for the important work that Accessiversity is continuing to do to make the world a more accessible place.
Their sentiments both humbled me, and made me immensely proud, knowing that I have played a part, however small, in causing all of these multi-colored prints to smudge up this shiny blue-green globe that we all call home.
And that is exactly what Global Accessibility Awareness Day is all about.
Below is a collection of photos and quotes from members of our extended Accessiversity family sharing how they are helping to leave their prints on a more accessible world, as we look to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2022.
Enjoy.
“We are helping to leave our print on a more accessible world by being a champion for accessibility within our organizations.”
Christine Xiong Suniga
Continuous Improvement Manager - Ryder Logistics
Ed Suniga
Dean Career Education & Learning Partnerships - Delta College
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by being a champion for accessibility within State government.”
Aileen Cohen
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Officer, Michigan Economic Development Corporation
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by passing on key learnings from my time assisting Chris with his Tales Of The Reluctant Blind blog.”
Sydney Naseef
Manager, Business Development - Spark Foundry
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by promoting Universal Design principles to ensure that the Sakai LMS meets accessibility standards for all learners.”
Wilma Hodges, Ed.D., UXC
Director of Training & eLearning Initiatives - Longsight, Inc.
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by analyzing and testing new software functionalities”
Markus Stetschnig
UX developer in the Sakai LMS - Entornos de Formación
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by running a successful disc jockey business, D.J. Ron, and making people happy doing something that I love to do”
Ron Knapp
Owner - D. J. Ron (and Chris’ uncle)
“We are helping to leave our prints on a more accessible world by educating our clients on the moral imperative to accessibility, not just the legal one."
The Team at Addis Enterprises
Pictured from left to right:
Tony Sabo - VP & Creative Director — Aashish Shrestha - Programmer — Dom Ari - Creative Specialist — Sommer Young - Multimedia Director — John K. Addis - CEO & Chief Strategist
Lindsey Wood - Sr. Project Manager — Alicia Munro - Project Coordinator — Tiffany Bajraktari - Marketing Specialist
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by continuously improving the manufacturing world so that people of all abilities can perform the manufacturing functions required.”
Michael Klein
Divisional Sr. Manager - Continuous Improvement (and Chris’ brother-in-law) - Newell Brands
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by creating websites that are accessible and providing tools for businesses to improve their websites' accessibility.”
Matt Hall
Developer - Web Ascender
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by the work I am doing for Alt+Shift, an organization that helps Michigan educators accommodate and adapt academic content for people with various disabilities in public schools. One of the main goals of Alt+Shift is to help Michigan teachers and educators to provide a more equitable academic experience.”
David Shachar-Hill
Independent Contractor - Clinton Regional Educational Service Agency
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by scanning, documenting, and reporting accessibility issues”
José Cebellán
Senior full-stack developer in the Sakai LMS, Entornos de Formación
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by scrounging up unused Apple ear buds from my friends to give to my blind brother, who seems to go through his headphones like they are disposable masks!
All kidding aside, I continue to tell as many people as I can about Accessiversity and regularly share Chris’ Facebook posts and content from his Tales of the Reluctant Blind blog so that his inspirational journey can serve to bring hope to those who feel hopeless”
Stephanie Dougherty
Secretary – Rainmakers of Erie PA (and Chris’ sister)
Part of the team from Marist College
pictured left to right: Sai Chandrika Neradabilli — Ramana Reddy Battula — Dede Hourican — Ayyapu Naidu Sankranthi
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by assisting with Sakai accessibility testing, so every student has equal access to online education, by focusing on meeting accessibility standards in website design."
Sai Chandrika Neradabilli
Digital Education Student Employee, Quality Assurance Team – Marist College
"I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by adapting and adhering to needs of everyone.”
Ayyapu Naidu Sankranthi
Digital Education Student Employee, Quality Assurance Team – Marist College
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by managing quality assurance testers in the Sakai open-source Accessibility group."
Dede Hourican
Manager of Instructional Technology – Marist College
"I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by being a good Accessibility tester”
Ujwala Merugu
Digital Education Student Employee, Quality Assurance Team – Marist College
"I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by planning to make websites accessible."
Matt Zeppetelli
Digital Education Student Employee, Quality Assurance Team – Marist College
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by ensuring that users of assistive technology participate fully in the creation of new capabilities in Sakai LMS. Ensuring that blind and low-vision voices are part of ideation, development, and testing is critical. In my leadership role at Longsight, Inc., and in my role as Chair of Sakai's Marketing Committee, I do whatever I can to facilitate these connections and make accessibility a central part of Sakai's evolution. "
Josh Wilson (and his dog Ruby)
VP & COO – Longsight, Inc.
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by designing products with accessibility in mind from the start. Mobile apps should support various text sizes so I always make sure that the user interface won't break when the user needs to increase the size of the text for better readability.”
Brady Klein
Software Development Engineer – Zillow (and Chris’ nephew)
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by connecting those with the drive and desire with the tools and opportunities to realize their potential”
Justin Caine
Founder/CEO - Beyond Our Barriers for Michigan and Co-Owner - Good Fruit Video
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by improving software access by millions of learners”
Vicent Alfonso
A11Y developer in the Sakai LMS - Entornos de Formación
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by ensuring that my colleagues and team learn digital and social accessibility guidelines, and incorporate them into the work we do for our clients."
Andrea Kerbuski
Vice President - Martin Waymire
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by creating pathways for people to pursue Digital Accessibility Testing as a career”
Vijay Francis
Director of Programs - Vision-Aid
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by challenging myself to de-stigmatize ‘disabilities’ and instead focusing on people’s ‘abilities.’ It is my hope to embrace people’s differences and become an advocate for empathy and empowerment.”
Macy Klein
Student and Intern - Mutual of Omaha (and Chris’ niece)
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by signing ‘hello’ and ‘see you later’ and describing myself and my environment during each one of my ‘Every Damn Day’ livestreams at the Fledge”
Jerry Norris
Founder & CEO – The Fledge
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by assisting Chris with formatting his test scripts, paying bills, filling out paper forms, troubleshooting basic computer issues, and various other visual tasks that are required to operate his business. I see first hand the struggles that Chris faces as a person with a disability, how isolating and frustrating it can be sometimes, but I will always do what I can to support him and the services he is able to provide through Accessiversity, because I know his hard work and passion is helping to improve people’s lives”
Teresa Knapp
Administrative Support – Accessiversity Labs (and Chris’ wife)
“We are helping to leave our prints on a more accessible world by leveraging our work with the next generation digital learning environment to constantly evolve the Sakai LMS to be as accessible and as user friendly as possible”
The Team at Entornos de Formación
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by working towards involving blind and low vision contributors in every aspect of software design, development, testing, deployment, support, and maintenance.”
Chuck Severance
Faculty - University of Michigan School of Information/Owner - Learning Experiences/Chief Architect of the Sakai LMS
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by never taking accessibility for granted, and always doing what I can to be proactive in the way I approach diversity, equity and inclusion. I’m a fixer. And a list maker. I’m not sure I could go one day without a list. But sometimes it is important to step back and realize Acceptance, Integration and Accessibility aren’t boxes to be checked.
I need to challenge myself that in order to be a part of implementing solutions and removing obstacles, I first need to embrace the mindset that Accessibility is a necessity at every stage of the journey…not just the end result.”
Pam Klein
Director - BluesED (and Chris’ sister)
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by advocating for accessibility across all parts of my organization. As a global IT solutions provider, DevCare develops custom software and IT systems for a variety of public-private customers, so my team and I want to assure that we can create/deliver robust solutions that will work for all of their users.”
Gideon Francis
Vice President – DevCare
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by ensuring accessibility and usability remains part of our team's core values and priorities.”
Michael Greene
Associate Director, Learning Technology Services & Strategy – Duke Learning Innovation
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by taking pictures for my dad when he needs images to post on his blog, which has drastically cut down on the amount of photos out on the internet where objects are partially obscured by his thumb, or the top of people’s head’s are cut off when he randomly points and shoots with his iPhone. You’re welcome.”
Ryan Knapp
Official (unofficial) Photographer - Tales of the Reluctant Blind Blog (and Chris’ son)
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by assisting the University of Michigan to create, buy and use information technology that all members of our community can use in a way that’s equitable, inclusive, and empowering.”
Gonzalo Silverio
Digital Accessibility/Digital UX Team, Information & Technology Services - University of Michigan
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by thinking about and creating Products that are accessible to everyone”
Venkat Srinivasan
Enterprise Cloud CRM Architect - DTMB, State of Michigan
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by empowering my fellow disabled veterans with knowledge and resources they can leverage to maximize their employability in careers that don’t negatively impact their disabilities – to give them the competitive edge and confidence to continue their mission of purpose and meaning”.
Michael Poyma
Employment Specialist with VA Veteran Readiness & Employment (VR&E) & Executive Director InvestVets
“We are helping to leave our prints on a more accessible world by encouraging the Michigan travel industry to go beyond ADA compliance, to find more and better ways to accommodate for persons of all abilities and to be truly welcoming to all.”
Dave Lorenz
Vice President, Travel Michigan – MEDC
Kelly Wolgamott
Director of Travel Marketing, Pure Michigan - MEDC
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by building and hosting sis-online.org, which helps hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities get the supports they need to live and work and play independently in our communities.”
Jim Anderson
President – A.J. Boggs & Company
“I am helping to leave my print on a more accessible world by continuing the journey towards accessibility across our digital space. We are fortunate to be working with Chris and his team to continually move us forward to that reality. It is just not new projects that are important; it is just as critical to continually improve through consistent maintenance and working on bringing current technologies up to speed.
The greatest impact we can make is to push that envelope further and further and work within our sphere of influence, striving for persons of differing abilities to be able to begin each day with the same opportunities in their personal and professional lives as everyone else.”
Brian Krantz
Managing Director, Business Application Services – Michigan Economic Development Corporation