Digital news and people with disabilities : where are we headed?

Many people with disabilities have been traditionally excluded from receiving or interpreting the news. U.S. law has changed requirements for Internet content and will lead to drastic changes in how news is conveyed online. Mainstream media is making headway toward communicating to the culture and abilities of people with disabilities, but serious errors still exist, particularly in digital news formats that exclude many people with disabilities from accessing news. While people with different disabilities are producing primarily niche news content, mainstream media is still the main source of authoritative news regarding people with disabilities. Hiring news staff with disabilities will help mainstream media develop an understanding of the physical, cultural and intellectual requirements of people with a variety of abilities.