3Play Media Celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)
Visit the 3Play Media GAAD Hub [Free Accessibility Resources]
May 16, 2024, marks the 13th annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Created by Joe Devon and Jennison Asuncion, GAAD is all about raising awareness for digital accessibility and inclusion for people around the world with disabilities.
GAAD is one of our favorite annual events at 3Play Media, and we look for new ways each year to contribute to GAAD and support accessibility awareness and action. Read on to learn about how we’re celebrating GAAD this year.
3Play’s GAAD Hub
This year, we created a GAAD Hub to help you evolve from accessibility awareness to action and advancement. Our GAAD Hub features carefully curated accessibility resources like blogs, eBooks, and webinars. These resources were hand-picked by our team to not only celebrate this year’s event, but to help you raise awareness, take action, and ensure advancement in digital accessibility within your brand.
A Practical Introduction to Disability Awareness
On May 16, we will host a free public webinar with Catarina Rivera, a disability public speaker, DEI consultant, and content creator. In the session “A Practical Introduction to Disability Awareness,” Catarina will provide a practical introduction to disability and ableism. During the presentation, she will also share common microaggressions, how to avoid them, and simple strategies for how to be more inclusive.
“A Practical Introduction to Disability Awareness” with Catarina Rivera will be recorded live and available for rewatch for a limited time. Save your seat for this exciting GAAD session!
Catarina Rivera, MSEd, MPH, CPACC is a disability public speaker, DEI consultant, and content creator with over 14 years of experience in the public sector. Catarina works with companies to improve disability awareness, inclusion, and accessibility. She is the founder of Blindish Latina, a platform smashing disability stigmas through storytelling and advocacy. Catarina has worn hearing aids from a young age and was diagnosed with a progressive vision disability at 17 years old. She has a BA from Duke University, an MSEd from Bank Street College of Education, and an MPH from Hunter College. Catarina is a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (IAAP). She is a member of RespectAbility’s National Disability Speakers Bureau and KeyNote Women’s Global Speakers Directory. She has been featured in Nasdaq, Authority Magazine, and as one of the top 21 DEI influencers of 2021. She was also named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices on Disability Advocacy for 2022. Past clients have included HarperCollins Publishers, LinkedIn, Hachette Book Group, Whole30, Grant Thornton, ColorStack, and BCG Digital Ventures. Catarina is a TEDx Speaker and spoke at TEDxRolandPark in June 2022. Catarina is committed to social justice.
Internal 3Play Keynote Event with Yat Li
At 3Play Media, we strive to keep accessibility and inclusivity at the core of everything we do. Each year, we welcome disability and accessibility professionals to share their insights, run engaging workshops, and more.
3Play welcomed Yat Li for an internal GAAD event in 2024
Though our GAAD events are often geared towards the public, we always plan a special event just for the 3Play team to further our understanding of disability and accessibility. This year during GAAD Week, we welcomed Yat Li to share his story and perspective on living with a disability, overcoming challenges associated with it, and how our roles in accessibility directly impact end users.
Yat faced immense obstacles in life, living without ears and hearing. A target of bullying, Yat was often at the forefront of teasing and micro-aggression at school. With a bleak future, his feelings of isolation and hopelessness led him to think that this world was not meant for him. Yat persevered through challenges and discovered that self-disclosure unlocks a world of possibilities. Yat is an award-winning accessibility and inclusion advocate. Thousands of people have found purpose, direction, and aspiration to change through Yat’s inspirational speeches and educational coaching. Learn more about Yat on his website.
GAAD is one day a year, but accessibility progress is a year-round endeavor. 3Play Media is here to help you take your accessibility journey further:
This blog was originally published by Rebecca Klein in May 2023 as “3Play Media Celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD).” This post is updated annually to reflect 3Play’s celebration of GAAD and for comprehensiveness, clarity, and accuracy.
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