Welcome to Day 1 of the #ABD21DayChallenge! Today’s task is to record a video with your self-description and post it on social media, tagging #ABD21DayChallenge and #AccessibleByDesign.

Self-descriptions provide context about the appearance of the speaker to participants who are blind, partially sighted, or joining with a low internet bandwidth. They help individuals mentally visualize speakers in the context of social media content, video and phone calls, webinars, and conferences, which improves inclusion.

When creating a self-description, keep it brief and include your:

• Name
• Pronouns
• Race
• Disability (if you are comfortable to share)
• Distinguishing physical characteristics (e.g., curly brown hair, green eyes)
• Description of your clothing
• Description of your background or physical location

Be factual and avoid opinion or commentary. Check out this example video of a self-description from Virginia Devlin, Current Global CEO.