GIC Accessibility Newsletter: Issue #4

By GIC Published on November 20th, 2025

Last updated on November 20th, 2025

Accessibility Countdown:

155 Days
(5 months, 4 days)
until Accessibility Deadline (4/24/26)

Cartoon illustration of an online training seminar underway.

DTI’s Accessibility Training Seminars Now Available Online

A few weeks ago, DTI brought in our representatives from Level Access to lead four separate presentations on digital accessibility. The PDF Accessibility training recordings are now available on the A11y Coalition SharePoint site.

Screenshot of Accessible Microsoft Documents Training opening page.

If you joined the Level Access Trainings and became a member of the DTI A11y Coalition, you should have been sent an email with the links to the SharePoint recordings.

If you did not receive this email or are having trouble accessing the recordings, please reach out to Jen Sandonato at: jenifer.sandonato@delaware.gov .

New Accessibility-Checking Plug-In Coming Soon

Screenshot showing a red flag regarding missing alt text.

The GIC has begun a strategic rollout of the Editoria11y WordPress plug-in. This plug-in provides immediate feedback on the accessibility status of your site and offers specific suggestions for how to address challenges.

The plug-in has been tested and vetted by the GIC for our agencies’ needs, and we are very excited about its effectiveness in quickly addressing accessibility challenges!
Read how Editoria11y can help your website stay compliant.

Registration Remains Opens for Delaware LIFE Conference

Delaware’s 27th annual LIFE Conference will be held on January 21, 2026 at Bally’s Dover Conference Center. LIFE is an acronym for Legislation, Independence, Families, and Education. The event is Delaware’s premiere disability conference, with a theme of “Moving Forward Together.”

Topics to be discussed include a panel discussion, Smart Home Innovations, Assistive Technology Use in Schools, How to Speak Up and Make a Difference, Parenting with a Disability, Achieving Financial Independence, and many others!

This event is in-person only, and registration is required.

Upcoming Accessibility Events

November 30: Blue Beanie Day
Web standards celebration that strongly emphasizes accessible and semantic web design, with participants donning blue beanies on social media.

December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed in 1992, by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3. The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. The 2025 theme is “Fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress.”

December 5 (1pm EST): American Sign Language Services Webinar
The American Sign Language (ASL) Services Webinar focuses on the significance of integrating ASL interpretation into digital content and public spaces. The event will cover the importance of accessibility in communication for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

December 9-10: Sight Tech Global 2025 Conference
Sight Tech Global is the first global, virtual conference dedicated to fostering discussion among technology pioneers on how rapid advances in AI and related technologies will fundamentally alter the landscape of assistive technology and accessibility.

Did you know?

An estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability. This represents 16% of the world’s population, or 1 in 6 of us.

Source: WHO Factsheet

Question of the Week: Icons and Accessibility

Have you found any particular set of icons to be better than others for accessibility?

Agencies and municipalities working with the GIC are currently using fonts from Font Awesome. This is a free and useful collection, and many of its icons are accessible in their original form. But it allows for some customization of icon type, sizing and color. That can lead to contrast issues as well as a lack of uniformity within a group of official Delaware state government sites.

In Lighthouse we will be selecting specific, accessible icons from Material Symbols within the Google open-source library. There will be a deliberate limit on the number of icons available in Lighthouse, as we refocus to use our graphics sparingly, and with more thoughtful intention.

Here are some more specifics about good ways to use icons.

Don’t forget, the GIC is here to help!

Use this form to ask us any digital accessibility question.

And don’t forget to subscribe to this newsletter and the blog at the top of this page!