Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) resources for the public

Learn more about how to promote and practice accessibility as we mark Global Accessibility Awareness Day.

The 15th annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) (external link) will be marked on Thursday, May 21, 2026. Held every third Thursday in May, this global event encourages everyone to talk, think, and learn about digital access and inclusion for the more than one billion people with disabilities 

So, spread the word, share this page, and learn some new tips and tricks for accessibility.

Learn about Digital Accessibility

In Massachusetts, 26% of residents self-identify as having a disability of some kind. The Commonwealth is doing its part by improving design, policies, and applications so they can be used with assistive devices, if you need more time, or have a hard time with technology. This page provides some ways to test your technology for accessibility and resources to help you understand what it means to build a website or device with digital accessibility and inclusive design.

Learn about accessible design  Explore what digital accessibility means  Read the Strategic Plan for Massachusetts 

Set up your Apple products to be accessible

Use Apple's iPhone guide  Set up accessibility on your Mac  Learn about Apple's accessibility support 

Set up your PC for accessibility

Windows Keyboard  View Windows accessibility features  Review Windows vision features 

Set up your Android for accessibility

Android accessibility overview   Use accessibility features on Android   Get started with Android accessibility deep links  

Tips and tricks for testing web accessibility

Test your site or application for keyboard-only user support

Navigate your site using just the keyboard (don’t use your mouse).

Use the tab key to navigate forward and the shift + tab keys to navigate backward.
When tabbing check for a visible border around links, buttons, and form fields.

Keyboard navigation key functions:

• Tab: Moves focus to the next interactive element (i.e., link, button, form field, etc.)
• Shift + Tab: Moves focus back to the previous interactive element
• Enter: Activates a link
• Enter or Spacebar: Activates a button
• Enter: Submits a form if the focus is on the submit button or activates the selected element
• Esc: The  Esc (Escape) key closes a dialog box or menu

View the complete list of accessibility keystrokes (external link) 

Test your site for browser zoom and mobile device support

One purpose of this test is to verify that all content reflows (external link) on the page, that content is not truncated, clipped, or cut off and that you don’t have a horizontal scrollbar. 

Increase browser zoom up to 400%

Slowly increase your browser zoom starting at 100% until you reach 400%.

• To increase browser zoom
  • Windows: use the Ctrl and + (plus sign) keys
  • Mac: use the ⌘ (Command)and + (plus sign) keys
• To decrease browser zoom
  • Windows: use the Ctrl and – (minus sign) keys
  • Mac: use the ⌘ (Command) and – (minus sign) keys
     

Test your page on a mobile device

Test your page on a mobile device to ensure that the layout looks correct.
 

Test your site for high contrast theme support

More than 70% of Mass.gov users use mobile devices and 80% of mobile device users have high contrast mode enabled. High contrast mode is an accessibility feature that changes the colors used by the OS, apps, and websites to maximize legibility using a small palette to help make elements easier to see, reduce eye strain, improve text readability, and accommodate user preferences. Use more distinct colors to make text and apps easier to see and make sure that all content, text, icons, form fields, buttons, and links are visible.

Check for contrast issues with light and dark themes

More accessibility resources

GAAD resources