Key learnings about Global Accessibility Awareness Day from BBC and PwC
Sophie Stevens | 20 Jul 2024In June 2024's IAAP Network and Learn we were joined by Romana Pugh, Change Lead, Product Accessibility at the BBC and Chris Holloway, Digital Accessibility Testing Tool Lead at PwC. Following the Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) in May, Romana and Chris shared their learnings from the events they ran for GAAD and discussed things they would do differently.
"This is the first time they've heard of digital accessibility and the first time they've had that interaction," Chris commented about some of the attendees at GAAD events, "so what we try to do is bring it in at every level so actually there's something for everybody to go throught these events." He then went onto discuss a successful event where different members of the team came together and used a tool to provide a demo where they built an accessible website, providing an interactive event for all guests showcasing accessibility first-hand.
Romana shared, "My tip is to be really clear on the outcome of your event from the start as that will change what you do...My main thing was that I had exec-level sponsorship visible there in whatever way." Of this element she shared that C-suite executives welcomed guests and shared their updates with guests, but was mindful of this being too corporate and commented, "the great thing about the BBC is they have news correspondents and podcast hosts so we tapped into that and got the right kind of charisma to run something like that so it wasn't too dry."
Find out more about Romana and Chris' GAAD event learnings by watching the full session below:
This session was part of AbilityNet's June 2024 IAAP Network and Learn event, with which we partnered with BarrierBreak to host.
The sessions are perfect for anyone who is currently an IAAP member or is thinking of becoming one. The International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) has a range of certification suitable for different needs of accessibility professionals.
Find out more about becoming a member and check back for events being announced in the future.
