Last year, GitHub made a bold pledge to improve the accessibility of open source, focusing on three key goals: empowering people with disabilities to contribute, increasing the availability of open source assistive technologies, and enhancing the accessibility of mainstream open source projects. But a pledge is just the beginning—turning intention into action is where the real impact happens. Over the past year, GitHub has been working closely with maintainers, contributors, educators, accessibility advocates, and individuals with disabilities to foster a culture of inclusion in open source communities.
Progress Since the Pledge
GitHub’s approach has been centered on programs, partnerships, and open tooling to support their goals in real-world projects and communities. Here’s a look at what they’ve accomplished so far:
Empowering Contributors with Disabilities
In May 2026, GitHub hosted the Open Source Assistive Technology Hackathon at their headquarters in San Francisco. Over two days, contributors, maintainers, educators, advocates, and people with disabilities collaborated on projects addressing real access barriers. To ensure meaningful participation, GitHub provided hands-on guidance in a Learning Room, including support for NVDA screen reader and keyboard-only navigation. They also hosted office hours with the team behind the NVDA screen reader to assist project teams.
The hackathon saw contributions across a variety of projects, such as:
- Camera-based assistive technology for blind and low-vision users.
- Workflows for converting PDFs into accessible formats.
- Open wheelchair software and hardware efforts.
- Accessibility-aware route planning.
- Pronunciation improvements for screen readers.
- Accessible gaming and tactile experiences for multiline braille displays.
- Adaptable physical tools and accessories.
You can follow ongoing updates in the Open Source Assistive Technology Hackathon repository.
Accessibility Documentation
GitHub’s accessibility documentation has been a game-changer for contributors with disabilities. These guides make it easier to use GitHub products with screen readers and other assistive technologies, while also providing developers with insights on using Copilot and agents with accessibility in mind. The documentation is created and reviewed by people with lived experience, ensuring it reflects real-world workflows and reduces barriers to participation.
Improving Accessibility in Mainstream Open Source
In October 2025, GitHub partnered with All Things Open to host the Open Source Accessibility Summit in Raleigh, NC. This event brought together members of the disability, accessibility, and open source communities to create a roadmap for improving the accessibility of open source software.
GitHub has also invested in resources and tools to help teams integrate accessibility into their daily development practices:
- The Open Source Accessibility organization for shared roadmaps and collaboration.
- A best practices guide for open source accessibility, including tips like creating an ACCESSIBILITY.md file and integrating accessibility into continuous integration (CI).
- The GitHub Accessibility Scanner, an AI-powered tool that uses GitHub Actions and Copilot to identify and fix accessibility issues.
- The Accessibility Annotation Toolkit, an open-source Figma toolkit to support accessibility-focused design and handoff.
These resources are designed to make accessibility a seamless part of the development process, reducing friction and encouraging collaboration.
Two Ways You Can Help Right Now
GitHub is inviting the community to get involved in two upcoming events:
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Open Source Accessibility Community Day (July 9, 2026) This virtual event will feature demos and updates from projects that participated in the Open Source Assistive Technology Hackathon. You’ll learn about what teams built, what they learned, and where contributors are needed next.
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Open Source Accessibility Summit (October 19, 2026) Hosted in Raleigh, North Carolina, this event will teach participants how to contribute to open source while following accessibility best practices. Grounded in the lived experiences of people with disabilities, the summit aims to help attendees build practical skills and make meaningful contributions to the open source ecosystem.
Join the Movement
GitHub’s progress so far is impressive, but the best is yet to come. You can stay connected by following the Open Source Accessibility organization and joining the Open Source Accessibility Slack. Together, we can build a more inclusive and accessible open source community.
Let’s turn this pledge into a reality—one contribution at a time.