Cerebral Palsy Alberta Supports Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2024

Cerebral Palsy Alberta is proud to celebrate the 13th Global Accessibility Awareness Day by joining together with Recite Me to raise awareness of the importance of digital inclusion.

Thursday, May 16th, 2024, marks Global Accessibility Awareness Day, a key date in our calendar to get everyone talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion.

Over 1.3 billion people worldwide have a disability, of this number, it’s estimated that only 1 in 10 people in need have access to the assistive products they need to read and understand digital content.

To support everyone online, regardless of their abilities, we created an inclusive website to enable our staff, customers, and website visitors to customize their digital experience, to suit their individual needs.

Every online user deserves a first-rate digital experience. Someone with access needs due to disabilities/impairments must be able to experience web-based services, content, and other digital products with the same successful outcome as those without disabilities.

When you visit our website, you access a variety of support tools to read and understand content in a way that works for you. These features include text-to-speech functionality, fully customizable styling features, multiple reading aids, and a translation tool with over 100 languages, including 65 text-to-speech.

Over the past 12 months together we have seen over 6.2 million launches of the toolbar, viewing over 43 million pages in a way that best suits their individual needs.

“At Cerebral Palsy Alberta we see the importance and value in full access to the digital world. Individuals with disabilities, especially those who live in rural communities, can easily be isolated due to weather, societal barriers, and a lack of accessible resources. The digital world can connect them to places that feel out of reach and that can be a changing factor in one's mental wellness.”

Together we can build an inclusive online world and this can start today on Global Accessibility Awareness Day. It’s not just about understanding why someone needs assistance, it’s about providing tools without question, as we work towards a fully inclusive digital world.