Journalism remains largely inaccessible to people with learning disabilities

Access to news remains a challenge for people with learning disabilities. During a fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, journalist William Kremer found that although many people with learning disabilities consume large amounts of media content, they face significant barriers when trying to access and understand much of the mainstream news.

Quality of access is one of the dimensions of information quality, as defined by the Barometer for Information Quality (2025). One indicator in this dimension concerns the availability of “content in accessible formats for people with disabilities/specific needs/neurodivergent people” (p. 47). According to Kremer’s study, however, this indicator remains largely underdeveloped.

Through interviews he conducted and focus groups organised by the BBC, Kremer found that people with learning disabilities often find the news “too fast” to follow. Participants also reported that the language frequently includes words that are difficult to understand, and that news coverage can have a negative emotional impact, causing distress, whether because stories lack sufficient context or resolution or are not always fully understood.

In discussion panels with people with learning disabilities, Kremer also found that participants “wanted news not only to tell them what is happening, but to help them make sense of it and act on it”.

The author argues that making journalism more accessible—and thereby reaching broader audiences—will require:

• – “treating people with learning disabilities as a legitimate audience.
• – investing in formats and workflows that support accessibility.
• – involving people with lived experience in design and production.
• – accepting that journalism may need to look and sound different in order to be fairer”.

Similarly, UNESCO has produced both a Practical Manual and a Master Class offering guidance to media institutions on producing more accessible content.

When it comes to designing news for a wider range of audiences—including people with learning disabilities—there are already several examples of initiatives developed specifically for, and sometimes with, these communities. One example is TV BRA in Norway. In Austria and Germany, news bulletins with simpler sentence structures and more accessible language have also been developed. Kremer’s report is available in two versions: a full report and an easy-to-read version.

Access to information—particularly journalistic information—is fundamental for participation in society and for informed decision-making, as highlighted by the Barometer for Information Quality (2025).

References
Barómetro para a Qualidade da Informação. (2025). Avaliar a qualidade da informação: Referencial teórico-metodológico. CECS.

Photography: Markus Winkler, at Unsplash

Machine Learning Post-Editing: Anabela Delgado