Accessibility/Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2022

In recognition of Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2022 on 19 May 2022, Wikimedia Foundation is collecting ideas for Wikimedia & wiki projects (Wikipedia et al.) on accessibility and inclusion topics.

Topics 2022

  • We are set out to improve and review technical documentation for our Movement and are inviting volunteers who can help us and collaborate with us to update the resources on MediaWiki and Meta Wiki. At present, some of the documentation is outdated and it requires some work to review them. Volunteers should have an interest in the topic of accessibility, but no formal experience is required.
    Together we're continuing an initiative to update onboarding and interface guidelines in regards to https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Accessibility_and_usability_cleanup. This list has been compiled by my dear colleague Quiddity. Thanks especially to him.
  • On GAAD a new feature for MediaWiki software powering the Movement wikis (and all the software built on top) went into production: Improving the access to free knowledge for the estimated 70 million people worldwide with vestibular disorder needs – adding prefers-reduced-motion functionality. Available in our main interfaces Vector (desktop) and MinervaNeue (mobile) from 19 May on. See https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T254399 for further technical details, thanks to Jon Robson, Nick Ray and Bernard Wang in collaboration with Volker E.
  • In collaboration with the Wikimedia Accessibility volunteer group, especially Dr. Mel Ganus and Wikipedia admins, we've been able to feature GAAD on the English Wikipedia main page under “On this Day” section.

Further information and contact

This initiative is driven by Volker E. of Wikimedia Product Design and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team.

Please reach out or join us via

This will also provide an opportunity for feedback to be shared on how we can make Wikimedia a more barrier-free and inclusive Movement and workplace. Further office hours will be held over the next week and timings will be rotated to allow for people from all timezones to participate. Members of Wikimedia Product Design team, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team are available to respond to all questions.