Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) takes place on Thursday 19 May, 2022. It is an event that is celebrated every year around the world, aimed at raising awareness of the importance of digital accessibility and inclusion in an increasingly diverse society, leaving no one behind.
Media accessibility has become a key issue on the global agenda at the UN Sustainable Development Group towards social and cultural inclusion. With the rapid advancement and popularity in technological content in recent years, offering a first-rate digital experience to all users regardless of their ability remains a major challenge.
With this in mind, on Thursday 19 May 2022 our project partners at the TransMedia Catalonia research group at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) are preparing to open the doors to their lab to give visitors the chance to discover and participate in some of their on-going studies on media accessibility. Project partner Anna Matamala will present MEDIAVERSE, along with theonline specialisations courses in media accessibility training which the research group is directing through the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting at UAB. Guests will also have the chance to use an eye-tracker and get a sneak preview of upcoming video games.
The final event on the agenda for GAAD 2022 is: “Veure-hi amb les orelles, sentir-hi amb els ulls” (Listening with your ears, seeing with your eyes), an activity designed by the research group as part of the CROMA programme (Fundació Autònoma Solidària), in which children from schools in the surrounding area of UAB have learned about accessibility services and have been working on the co-creation of a 360º video. They will be visiting the research team at the university to show the results of their workshops.
If you’re interested in learning more about accessible digital communication and Easy-to-Understand language, more information about the accessibility courses on offer can be found on the TransMedia Catalonia website.