Technology is agnostic. Attitudes are not

An equitable and accessible future for journalism?

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Bridging the accessibility gap

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The dangers and concerns around generative AI and what it might mean for journalism are all well documented. Fears around loss of jobs and worries about fake news have all had lots of column inches dedicated to them since the introduction of ChatGPT at the end of 2022. What’s been less well documented however are the positives the new technology might? bring for digital accessibility.

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One of the areas we’re likely to see positive progress is in the? creation of high quality and accurate subtitles and transcripts for audio content. The BBC have announced a three month pilot where they’re using generative AI to create subtitles for some of the 27,000 hours of audio they produce every month. Head of Product for BBC Sounds Aniruddh Dimri says the? trial will be reviewed after three months to evaluate how the tools are working and if it’s a cost effective way of making transcripts available in Sounds. If successful the trial could be expanded to also include the huge BBC Sounds archive.

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On a slight tangential side note, this beautifully pedantic piece by Steven Aquino on the difference between subtitles and captions is worth a read.?? Gotta love a pedant.

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One of the challenges for people transcribing for captions is when people talk over each other. The decision to mute microphones in the recent US presidential hopeful debate ?had a positive knock on effect. This Politico piece about transcribing captions for presidential debates ?gives a real insight into the inherent difficulties in trying to caption people shouting over each other. Interesting ?as well that gen AI can’t even cope with it yet.

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A multimodal future

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One area gen AI is extremely good at is creating multimodal versions of different types of content. The recent release of the Google Notebook LLM functionality to create conversational?? ?content from whatever source material you upload has been wowing lots of people , myself included. Just have a listen to this gen AI generated podcast of my Reuters research paper on accessibility of visual data journalism and be prepared to be blown away. I was able to create this synthetic podcast by simply uploading a PDF of my Reuters paper on why blind audiences are being left behind in the visual data revolution and letting Google Notebook LLM do it’s stuff. ???It’s hard to believe that technology has got to this stage and we can create something as realistic as this in just a few minutes. There’s undoubtedly wrinkles to iron out and ethical things to consider, but I’m excited about how this type of gen AI innovation can impact a11y. ?We do need to be alert though to? those ethical considerations.

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I was asked recently for my thoughts on what gen AI might do for a11y in general. Not really journalism focused, but thought you might want to read this piece from the BBC’ Tech Decoded newsletter on why ??we need to be aware of the downsides of generative AI for digital accessibility.

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We also need to be alert to the impact of big tech on journalism. Technology will undoubtedly have a major role to play in making content more accessible to more audiences, but this piece by Mathias Felipe de Lima Santos on how we need to tread carefully on big tech's claim to be the saviour of journalism ???offers some great insights on countering some of the claims made by the big tech companies. ?Disappointing to read that one of the projects funded by the Google News Initiative to make 9 news organisations in Brazil accessible to blind audiences has folded. A reminder of why accessibility needs to become systemic and engrained into newsroom culture and not just a series of one off ??pilots.

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Language matters

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A market currently vastly underserved in journalism is for people with cognitive differences. ?This piece from the Bangalore Mirror looks at how a young person in India is ??creating A newsletter helping to make the news accessible for autistic children. ?I’m really interested in this sort of journalism. As an industry we’ve a duty of care to ensure everyone is as well informed as they can be and that we reach and talk to them in a way that best suits their needs.

The Arc of the United States are a US based charity specifically aimed at people with learning disabilities and have written this comprehensive journalist's guide to disability for the US election. The detailed guide covers use of simple and non-discriminatory language as well as top tips for journalist and content creators on how to make all content accessible.

UNESCO have also produced a 102 page handbook and a series of ten masterclasses focused specifically on how media organisations need to do more for disabled people. Launched during the recent Paralympics, the UNESCO disability in media masterclasses are presented by disabled presenter and activist Sophie Morgan and are well worth a watch.?? They cover language, accessibility for audio, video, digital and a myriad of other things all journalists should know about.

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Keep it simple

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Keeping language simple doesn’t just benefit people with learning disabilities. ?In this piece first published in The Conversation and then by the International Journalists' Network , David Markowitz , Hillary Shulman and Todd Rogers explain why journalists should keep headlines simple and direct. Their research has found that audiences react better and engage more with simpler headlines. They’re not suggesting news organisations become clickbait factories but suggest “if headlines become more accessible to average news readers, they will be more effective for engagement and, hopefully, a more informed public”. Another great example of the curb cutting effect. Make things better for one group and you’re likely to make them better for everyone. Interestingly the research suggests journalists don’t tend to have the same positive reaction to simpler headlines as wider audiences. They point to an essay written quite a few years ago by Ezra Klein which advises journalists to avoid writing for their editors. I love this advice, and although ultimately you’ll have to get your story or pitch past your editor, it’s vital to keep in mind the audience at all times and remember who you’re writing for. ?In other words, keep out of? that editorial groupthink bubble.

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In The Netherlands, Dutch broadcaster NOS has ?just launched ?an easy to understand daily news bulletin for people who struggle to keep up with or understand the news.

NOS Journaal ?in Makkelijke Taal (News bulletin in easy language) is aimed at people with learning disabilities as well as older people and non-native speakers.

Onno Duyvené de Wit, a spokesperson for NOS, said: “This is not just about newcomers to the Netherlands but also people who were born here and for one reason or another missed the boat with language. We have the legal task of making news, sport, and national and international events available to all of the residents of the Netherlands, and this is part of it.”

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A fantastic note to end on.

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That’s it for this edition of Journalism A11y. As always if you are involved with or know about any innovation in journalism focused on accessibility and audiences do let me know. ???Please share this newsletter as well with anyone you might think interested. It’s crucial as an industry journalism is there for everyone.

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Thanks again and talk soon

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Johny

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[email protected]

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