“Knowledge is power” was said by Sir Francis Bacon back in the 16th century, and the axiom still holds true today. A British charity called United Response is imbuing people with disabilities with that power by publishing the U.K.’s first accessible newspaper.
Easy News incorporates graphics with simple, declarative sentence structures in large print to communicate topical issues to people who have trouble reading. A PDF of the inaugural January issue is available on the United Response website. One can see how the clean backgrounds and the arrows used to cue readers would be helpful to people needing assistance processing information.
Of course, the lead story in the first ever Easy News concerns the creation of the publication. United Response conducted some market research and found that people with disabilities wanted to be more informed about news and politics, but the formats and jargon used in modern periodicals was a barrier. “For every 10 people with learning disabilities, 5 never read newspapers and 3 find them hard to understand,” says the article.
The article also includes an endorsement from Kaliya Franklin, a leading advocate for people with disabilities in the U.K., and mentions that the president of United Response, Martyn Lewis, is a newsreader for the BBC — a tidbit of information which lends a veneer of journalistic credibility to Easy News.
Other articles in the first edition examine the impact changes at the National Health Service and cuts in public spending will have on people with disabilities, an article on abuse at a care facility, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebration, and the Paralympic Games that were held in London this past summer. Everything you would expect to see in any other newspaper.
This past Wednesday, The Guardian published an article entitled, “Why Easy News is useful for people with learning disabilities,” on its Social Care Network, which contains a conversation with Nick Smith and John Nettles, who consulted on the publication of Easy News. The article is mainly a transcription of an interview with the two housemates, conducted by Jaime Gill, and their keen interest in the news as well as their wit:
Nick: I just want people to read it and think it’s good. And that it’s good for everybody, including disabled people.
John: I’d like to sit down with them all and explain what we did and what the stories are about. I like the fact you can look through it with somebody. And I’m looking forward to the next one, because there’ll be new stories then.
Nick: Yes. And we’ll get paid again! [Both laugh]
United Response plans to have a new issue of Easy News ready in March, and will continue publishing every two months for the rest of the year. The organization says that if Easy News is successful it may go to a more frequent scheduled following the trial period.
Share your thoughts on Easy News, and the importance of people with disabilities staying on top of the contemporary issues, in the comments.
Image by Ed Yourdon.