With shelter in place orders still going strong in most of the country, usage of social media has increased. But for those with disabilities, understanding some of those social media posts can be hard. Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) promotes digital accessibility and inclusion for people with all disabilities. Globally, over a billion people live with some form of disability. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 2.2 billion people worldwide have vision impairment or blindness and an estimated 466 million people worldwide – 5% of the population – have disabling hearing loss.
Ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Facebook’s Head of Accessibility Mike Shebanek will share some useful tips on how to make your Facebook posts more approachable so that everyone can easily understand them. These recommendations make navigating social media more attainable not just for people with disabilities, but many others, including the elderly.
Mike Shebanek heads Accessibility at Facebook. He has over 30 years of experience in the tech industry and a has a passion for Accessibility and digital inclusion. He was product manager for the original iMac computer and iPad and led the creation of the VoiceOver screenreader and Accessibility features on Mac computers, the iPhone, and iPad. He has led Accessibility at several high-tech companies including Apple, Yahoo, and Verizon Media and also founded several pioneering industry-wide projects to promote Accessibility and inclusion such as Teach Access, the Disability Collection, and XR Access. He holds several technology patent sand serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors at the LightHouse for the Blind in San Francisco.
