Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) was created 15 years ago to raise awareness about — and encourage innovation in — digital accessibility. It’s celebrated on the third Thursday of May each year.
In 2026, Global Accessibility Awareness Day is on May 21. This date also will kick off our University-wide celebration of GAAD in the form of an accessibility improvement contest!
Each office, school or department can enter with a small team of their own accessibility champions. These champions will attempt to outscore their opponents by completing challenges on our accessibility bingo board. The winning team will receive:
- A catered lunch
- A featured story for Pitt Wellbeing's newsletter and website, and
- Recognition at the 2026 ACCESS Awards.
The contest will last throughout the summer, ending Aug. 24, giving each area ample time to work on their bingo-board challenges.
Please register to join the contest. Registration will remain open throughout the summer as well, so anyone can join at any time. A later entry could still pull off a surprise victory.
Need to Know Info
- Point Values & Tracking
Each square on the bingo board is worth one (1) point when completed. A bingo (five completed squares in a row) is worth five additional points. This essentially doubles the value of each square when you complete five in sequence horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
The Digital Accessibility Coordinator will have the official point record throughout the contest. You do not need to notify us of each completed square immediately, but please check in with major updates to scores occasionally throughout the contest. You can submit these updates to accessibility@pitt.edu.
The Digital Accessibility Coordinator will ask for evidence of task completion in some cases.
- Clarifying Each Challenge
Challenges that reference specific material are linked within the bingo board. If you have questions, though, please don't hesitate to reach out at accessibility@pitt.edu.
It is important to note that two specific items on the bingo board are not available yet. These are the EIT Accessibility Annual Report and the Digital Accessibility OIEW Canvas Course.
Annual Report requests will be distributed in June and will be due at the end of July.
The Digital Accessibility OIEW Canvas Course will be available in early June on the Accessibility Training page.