Its seems nowadays the media is more focused on profitable markets than delivering news that's easily accessible for all. During "normal" situations, most forms of media don't take into consideration the needs of the disabled.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced the media to transition to better accessible media, implementing features such as "ASL interpretation, auto-transcription or closed captioning, asynchronous communication options for those in different time zones, and more" (Joe Amditis).
Some organizations and people have already been working on this. Jason Strother works to create inclusive content for disable people. According to Strother, "even though roughly one out of four Americans have some type of physical, sensory, or developmental disability, news outlets do very little to ensure their websites, videos, or apps are accessible to people in this community.” Strother continues to work across New Jersey to find and improve ways for media to reach out more into the disabled communities.
Its unfortunate that it took a pandemic to force most forms of media to provide easier access to the disabled communities, but it is a start to shifting to media that technologically supports the disabled community.
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