The official website for the Americans with Disabilities Act states that “Inaccessible web content means that people with disabilities are denied equal access to information.” As a means to serve information to communities, journalistic publications should strive to make accessibility one of their top priorities.
Accessibility on websites can include many options: choosing fonts that help dyslexic readers, adding captions to videos, or implementing alternative text for images. These are various ways that online publications can begin or continue to provide for disabled people in their communities.
While one might argue that a publication’s disabled audience is not large and that reinforcing accessibility would not affect their readership, equal access to information should still remain a top priority. Cultivating a strong relationship with disabled readers is more important than numbers on a screen. Non-physical disabilities are just as important to accommodate as physical disabilities, regardless of whether or not their numbers hit a specific quota or not.
Publications everywhere should serve their readers equally.
Click here to read on The Channels!
Comments