Global Accessibility Awareness Day is a virtual accessibility event on Thursday, May 15, 2025, aimed at engaging in conversation, thinking, and learning about access and inclusion. This year’s event is sponsored by the University of Minnesota and co-sponsored by the University of Illinois system and the University of Michigan. The year’s theme is “Committing to Change” considering the many ways we, our departments, our colleges and universities, and communities can commit to making the changes needed to be more inclusive. The event is organized by a volunteer group of dedicated University employees.

Director of Disability Equity and ADA Coordinator Allison Kushner and Senior Accessibility Specialist Erin Metz will present "Creating Awareness & Empowering Change: Building a Campus-wide Disability Awareness Program" on Track C of Session 1. This presentation focuses on how to develop and implement a comprehensive disability awareness training program designed to educate a university community on its disability compliance obligations but also foster a culture of disability inclusion and accessibility. This presentation by UM's Disability Equity Office will highlight the key challenges, successes, and impacts of implementing its own disability education and training program. Participants will gain insight into leveraging their available resources to build a training program, including creating a strategic mission and roadmap for implementation, and how to utilize objective data to gain buy-in and enthusiasm for growth from key stakeholders.