This survey is being conducted in partnership with DePaul University's Student Urban Research Corps to inform accessible journalism practices at 15 West, a hyperlocal newsroom serving Chicago's West Side.
people on Chicago's West Side have disabilities, are neurodivergent, or are learning English. Most local news isn't built for them.
We partnered with DePaul University's Student Urban Research Corps to understand what needs to change.
Nearly 40,000 West Side residents live with disabilities that affect how they access information.
Blind or low-vision residents who need screen readers, Braille, or audio alternatives to access local news
Residents with challenges in memory, concentration, or decision-making who benefit from plain language and clear structure
Deaf or hard-of-hearing residents who need captions, transcripts, and visual alternatives
More than 1 in 4 West Garfield Park residents have some form of disability. The community has a 7.2% vision difficulty rate, more than double the citywide average, and a 10.9% cognitive difficulty rate, the highest among West Side communities. These numbers reflect deep health disparities, including diabetes-related vision loss, that disproportionately impact Black and Latine communities on the West Side.
All five communities: 222,820 residents · 4.5% vision · 7.0% cognitive · 17.8% any disability
The reality: When nearly 18% of West Side residents live with disabilities, accessible journalism becomes critical.
Chronic illness, mobility, hearing, vision, and psychiatric or developmental disabilities that affect how people access news.
ADHD, autism, anxiety, and other conditions that shape how people process information
Speakers of Spanish, Polish, Arabic, and other languages who need translation or subtitle support
Missing alt text, poor image descriptions, and inaccessible infographics exclude people who use screen readers or process information differently.
Websites that don't work with screen readers, confusing menus, and unclear structure make it hard to find what you need. Survey participants consistently reported difficulty navigating news websites and apps.
Percentages reflect respondents to each question · n varies from 20–30
When news is only accessible to some, we fail our communities. Accessible journalism is essential for democratic participation.
Short sentences, simple words, and clear structure make news accessible to all reading levels
High contrast, larger fonts, and plenty of whitespace improve readability for everyone
Podcast-style news and text-to-speech options serve auditory learners and visually impaired readers
Spanish translations and multilingual content reach more of our diverse communities
Responsive design ensures news works on all devices and screen sizes
Detailed alt text enables screen reader users to understand visual content
We're using these findings to report differently from day one. This research informs everything from how we write headlines to how we design our website.
Every story will meet plain language standards, include proper alt text, and be screen reader compatible from day one.
Building our platform with high contrast, clear navigation, and multilingual support as core features, not afterthoughts.
Free community workshops teaching critical news consumption skills, tailored for neurodivergent and multilingual audiences.
Comprehensive training programs ensuring our entire team understands and implements accessibility best practices.
30 survey participants across the US and Canada confirmed consistent barriers in accessing local news
While this research captured experiences nationwide, our reporting focuses exclusively on Chicago's West Side, where Chicago Health Atlas data shows 10,000 residents with vision difficulty and 15,500 with cognitive difficulty face these same barriers.
Live in Cook County? Share your experience with local news accessibility — and earn $25.
In partnership with DePaul University's Student Urban Research Corps, we are conducting accessibility research to establish what barriers prevent people from accessing local news. While our survey reaches participants nationwide, the barriers they identify — complex language, missing alt-text, poor navigation — are the same barriers facing the 25,000+ West Side residents living with vision and cognitive difficulties.
This survey is being conducted in partnership with DePaul University's Student Urban Research Corps to inform accessible journalism practices at 15 West, a hyperlocal newsroom serving Chicago's West Side.