{"id":20275,"date":"2020-05-21T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=20275"},"modified":"2020-09-18T00:35:00","modified_gmt":"2020-09-18T00:35:00","slug":"salesforce-recognizes-ninth-annual-global-accessibility-awareness-day-gaad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/stories\/salesforce-recognizes-ninth-annual-global-accessibility-awareness-day-gaad\/","title":{"rendered":"Salesforce Recognizes Ninth Annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today Salesforce celebrates the ninth annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)<\/a>, a day committed to making websites and software fully accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While web accessibility has always been important, it\u2019s even more critical this year, as more people than ever are working from home and relying on virtual interactions. With the unemployment rate for disabled individuals being twice<\/a> that of the non-disabled population, there\u2019s no room for exclusion \u2014 it\u2019s our responsibility to help raise awareness and close the gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Salesforce, this is all part of our broader commitment to accessibility<\/a> and belief that we can be the world\u2019s most accessible company and #1 ranked employer for people with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accessibility gap is large<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The World Health Organization estimates that 15% of the world\u2019s population (around 1 Billon people)<\/a> have a disability, a number that is growing everyday. In the US, about 1 in 4 people have a disability<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With technology a key lifeline for employment and social interaction, accessibility is more important than ever. However, most websites aren\u2019t accessible to all. Following the guidelines that define standards for website accessibility (WCAG 2.0), WebAIM\u2019s annual analysis<\/a> of one million home pages found that 98.1% home pages had at least one failure and an an average of 60.9 errors per home page. Even with our own focus on accessibility, we recognize that we have work to do on our web properties. These issues directly impact the ability people with disabilities have to access job opportunities as well as completing a huge range of day-to-day tasks as more and more services move online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing the gap<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At Salesforce, we strive to be Trailblazers in ensuring accessibility, from our products to workplaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For nearly a decade, accessibility has been a key focus for our Product Accessibility Team at Salesforce and over the past few years this has expanded into other areas such as events and real estate. Last year, spearheaded by the grass roots efforts of Abilityforce, our employee resource group for people with disabilities and allies, we established the Office of Accessibility<\/a> to double-down on this work, creating increased transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Salesforce, we recognize Global Accessibility Day as a chance to acknowledge how far we\u2019ve come, but also all of the work that lies ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to get involved? Here are some ways to get started today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n