Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2025 Recap – A Day of Insight, Action, and Accessibility

Georgia State University’s Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Online Education (CETLOE) hosted its annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) event on May 15, 2025. With five powerful presentations and active participation from faculty, librarians, learning experience designers, and technologists, the day reinforced GSU’s commitment to digital learning.

The sessions offered a rich mix of student perspectives, course quality practices, practical teaching strategies, and support resources for improving access. Each presentation focused on different angles of accessibility—from universal design and course design to leveraging library services—highlighting both challenges and actionable solutions.

Recordings of the sessions can be found at this link.

Here are the highlights from each session:

Student Voices on iCollege Accessibility

Presenters: Taylor Burch, Abby Greenbaum, Mary Helen Hoque, Dr. Jared Jones, Dr. Spring Brennan

Drawing from survey responses of over 150 disabled students, this session spotlighted real-world accessibility challenges in GSU courses and ways to improve the iCollege learning experience.

Key Takeaways:

Time constraints and confusing schedules are major barriers to student success, but making use of iCollege calendars or due date features can help students manage their time.
Disorganized modules and hard-to-locate information make a course difficult to navigate, especially for students using assistive technology like a screen reader.
Inclusive syllabus statements and initiating conversations with students can foster their sense of belonging in a course.
Documents (Word, PowerPoint, PDF) and iCollege content should be formatted accessibly from the start, so students have timely access to them or can review them in advance.

link to slides

link to presentation recordings

Preparing Your Course for the 2026 ADA Deadline

Presenter: Dr. Spring Brennan

This session provided an overview of what is needed to meet the ADA Title 2 and WCAG 2.1 (Level AA) requirements that apply to all web and mobile content used in instruction.

Key Takeaways:

All content and documents in “active” courses must meet accessibility standards by the deadline of April 2026. (It’s not retroactive, it’s “from this point forward…”)
Practices to adopt include applying accessible text formatting, adding accurate captions to videos using GSU’s Kaltura Media, and adding meaningful alternative text to images.
PDFs are not as accessible as webpages, and scanned print materials must be replaced or repaired to meet online standards.
For help with accessibility issues (especially third-party or online tools), contact CETLOE at [email protected] to initiate a course consultation.

link to slides

link to presentation recordings

Integrating UDL Strategies into Your Course with the +1 Method!

Presenters: Dr. Kathryn Crowther, Tia Gibbs, Aime Siedman, Allison Williams

A panel of GSU faculty shared how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the “Plus 1” method empower instructors to make small, impactful changes that benefit all students.

Key Takeaways:

UDL encourages authenticity, flexibility, and choice that supports student agency.
Incremental tweaks (e.g., adding one more content type or assignment option at a time) help make implementing UDL manageable for busy faculty.
Clear instructions improve engagement. For example, video announcements can help draw students in by highlighting what’s important about an assignment or the week’s course activities.
Feedback in multiple forms (audio, written, rubric) can also enhance student understanding.
Tools like iCollege checklists can help students monitor their progress and better manage their time.

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link to presentation recordings

From Compliance to Connection

Presenter: Marquisa Jenkins

This hands-on session reframed accessibility as a tool for connection, not just compliance, and explored practical tools to build accessible course content in iCollege.

Key Takeaways:

Apply the four guiding principles of web accessibility, POUR (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust), to ensure digital accessibility.
iCollege as well as many supplemental applications have built-in tools to address and aid in reducing barriers to learning. Therefore, the use of engagement tools is encouraged.
Leverage Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to create engaging and equitable learning experiences.
Proactively build accessible course content and set up iCollege accommodations (e.g., special quiz access) in advance as a best practice.
Contact learning technologists for accessibility support and training.

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link to presentation recordings

Library Resources for Accessible Course Content

Presenters: Jason Puckett and Denise George

A team from GSU’s university library showcased accessible academic resources and library services that help instructors provide ADA-compliant course content to students.

Key Takeaways:

Links to library-owned content help ensure students can access academic materials reliably (and within copyright compliance).
Open Educational Resources (OER) are often great replacements for inaccessible materials.
Contact your Subject Librarian for assistance locating accessible versions of eBooks or articles.
When catalog items are inaccessible, the library can help communicate with databases or book publishers, too.

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Final Thoughts

GAAD 2025 served as a reminder that accessibility is a shared responsibility—and a shared opportunity. By combining compliance with compassion to foster “placemaking”, Georgia State University continues to pave the way for meaningful digital learning.

For more information, start by visiting CETLOE’s Accessibility Assistance page.