CMU Hosts Fourth Annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day

On May 21, 2026, Carnegie Mellon University welcomed faculty, staff, students, and community partners to its fourth annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) event. Hosted in the Jared L. Cohon University Center, the event brought together members of the CMU community for a day of learning, discussion, and collaboration focused on creating more inclusive digital experiences.

The day began with registration and breakfast, followed by two concurrent workshops that provided attendees with practical strategies for advancing accessibility in their work. In Accessible Content, participants explored techniques for creating accessible digital content across multiple platforms. Led by Tricia Flinn and Maz Planchak, the interactive session covered content structure, alternative text, accessible tables, and other foundational accessibility practices.

Neurodivergence and Emerging Technology, led by Victoria Huston, Matthew Miller, and Nicole Perrotta, examined the relationship between neurodiversity, assistive technologies, automation tools, and generative artificial intelligence.

Following lunch, attendees gathered for featured presentations and a keynote address from Lex Huth, a Minneapolis-based writer, speaker, and accessibility advocate whose work explores the intersection of disability inclusion, artificial intelligence, and emerging technology. A Carnegie Mellon alumna, Huth shared insights from her professional and personal experiences, reflecting on a career that has included accessibility advocacy, research, public policy work, and international communications.

In her keynote, Who Carries the Torch?, Huth reflected on her personal journey with disability. Through stories from her career and experiences living abroad, she challenged attendees to consider how  knowledge, support, and accessibility practices are passed from one generation to the next. Drawing on the concept of "knowledge keepers" within the disability community, Huth emphasized that disability is a community that anyone can join at any point in life. Because of this, she argued, accessibility knowledge cannot remain with a small group of experts; it must be shared broadly and intentionally. Attendees were encouraged to "carry the torch" by mentoring others, sharing expertise, conducting research, involving people with disabilities in design and testing, and building more inclusive systems and technologies.

Huth also highlighted the role of digital accessibility in preserving knowledge and expanding participation. While emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and extended reality offer exciting possibilities, she stressed that accessibility must be built into these innovations from the beginning. Researchers, designers, developers, educators, and technology users all have a role to play in ensuring that new tools create pathways rather than barriers.

The event reinforced CMU's ongoing commitment to digital accessibility and inclusion. Through education, collaboration, and shared responsibility, the university continues to work toward removing barriers and ensuring that digital experiences are accessible to all members of the CMU community.

The Digital Accessibility Office thanks all attendees, presenters, volunteers, and campus partners who contributed to making the 2026 Global Accessibility Awareness Day a success.