By Funmi Ajumobi 

Accesstech Innovation and Research Center has provided training for media professionals to ensure that their digital content is inclusive and accessible for readers who are blind, dyslexic, print-disabled, and deaf readers.

The training held in commemoration of Global Accessibility Day, on May 16, at the organisation’s head office in Surulere, Lagos, is the first in a series of workshops to change the narrative on disability through proper disability reporting. 

Journalists were equipped with practical steps to create accessible digital platforms as well as inclusive stories catering to diverse needs within the disability community.

In his keynote address, the CEO of Accesstech Innovation and Research Center, Opeolu Akinola, emphasized the importance of empowering journalists to promote disability inclusion through their stories, adding that apart from access to information being a matter of human rights, it is essential that the information they are passing across reaches as many people as possible including persons with disabilities.

“By incorporating accessibility best practices, journalists can engage a wider audience to interact with their content. This fosters a more inclusive media landscape and ensures that everyone has the opportunity to stay informed,” Akinola added.

Taking the participants through the training on “Digital Content Accessibility”, the organisation’s Chief Operations Officer, Emmanuella Akinola 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 all.

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 nine 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.