… trains journalists on digital content for persons living with disabilities
By Bianca Iboma-Emefu
The Co founder of Accesstech and organisation’s Chief Operations Officer, Emmanuella Akintola has called on Media organizations and Practitioners to include news app that would provide access to information and news for persons living with disabilities.
Mrs Akinola disclosed this during a one day capacity building workshop for media practitioners, in commemoration of the Global Accessibility Day, May 16, held in Lagos with the theme: ‘Digital Content Accessibility’.
‘The workshop was the first in a series of workshops to be held in order to transform the perspective in writing about disabilities.Journalists were equipped with practical steps to create accessible digital platforms as well as inclusive stories catering to diverse needs within the disability community.
She charged the media to reshape society’s attitude towards disability by seeing the Persons with Disability as persons first while reporting. She added that disability issue is not charity, but developmental issues which must be handled with full commitment to ensure an all-inclusive world for everyone.
‘The idea behind the training, is to give everyone, including persons with disabilities, access to knowledge-driven journalism. She recommended the need to remove as many barriers as possible, what should be done is creating a core values in diversity; a website with diversity,
‘People with disabilities in Nigeria are poorly covered and represented in the media, she noted. “That is what we want to change,” she said, adding that media organizations should begin significantly and change the nature of sympathy.
Meanwhile she noted“Inclusion is not just reporting about an excluded group, which the media has done for far too long. It is also bringing them in to define the reporting, to co-create with us, and to critique our existing modes of operation.
Mrs Akinnola stated what they expect media outlets to consider when building new products in the future.The aim of having a News content and information designed along side the media organizations website is to provide them access.Accesstech seeks to promote disability inclusion in the country’s news ecosystem and safeguard people living with disabilities from mis- and disinformation.
She said Accesstech collaborated with journalist to provide training on creating digital content that is accessible to persons living with disabilities base on under reportage and pity placed on the persons which stigmatized them from living a Normal life.
‘The training covered topics such as using alt text for images, providing audio descriptions for videos, and ensuring that websites and apps are navigable for screen readers.
She added that the goal of the training was to help journalists better understand and implement best practices for digital accessibility, especially in light of the increasing shift towards online news consumption. By making their content accessible to all readers, journalists can ensure that persons living with disabilities are not excluded from accessing important information.
Furthermore, Accesstech is committed to promoting inclusivity and diversity in the digital space, and is excited to partner with journalist to make digital content more accessible for all individuals.
Akintola said that the capacity building workshop was tailored to the specific needs and challenges faced by journalists in creating accessible content.
Overall, the collaboration between our organization and Journalist is a step towards creating a more inclusive and accessible digital landscape for persons living with disabilities. By empowering Journalists with the knowledge and tools to create accessible content, we can ensure that everyone has equal access to information and news.
It has also held up a mirror to the media in Nigeria on how we have previously reported our stories, without considering persons with disabilities.
In his remarks the CEO of Accesstech Innovation and Research Center, Opeolu Akinola, stressed on the essence of empowering journalists, advocating disability inclusion through their stories, adding that apart from access to information being a matter of human rights, it is necessary that the information they are passing across reaches as many people as possible including persons with disabilities.
He said incorporating accessibility best practices, for media practitioners,Journalists can engage a wider audience to interact with their content. This çan promote a more inclusive media landscape and ensures that everyone has the opportunity to stay informed,.
The CEO appealed to Media organization to treat persons living with disabilities nicely especially with words it must be appropriate. They should understand that the choice of words should not be derogatory but rather aroused interest.
Mr.Akintola said, “ Accesstech innovation and Research Centre Limited by Guarantee is a non-profit committed to fostering the inclusion of persons with disabilities through public enlightenment on accessibility and empowering persons with disabilities through assistive products and services to enable them to access quality Education, decent jobs and economic growth, thereby reducing inequality in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Over the past few months, the organization has provided tech skills training to over 200 visually impaired individuals across Africa, focusing on areas such as Python for Data Analytics, Advanced Microsoft Excel, and Basic Microsoft Productivity Tools.