In a world full of discrimination against disabled people that isn’t always obvious, much of the work focused on accessibility must call attention to issues that are often ignored.

As he steps into his role as The Washington Post’s first accessibility engineer, Holden Foreman will solidify work that was already happening behind the scenes, taking accessibility out of the darkness and connecting the Post’s engineering team with the wider web accessibility landscape that many readers traverse on a daily basis

Positions like Foreman’s, which are intended to put a face and a name to access issues, are relatively new in news media, especially in such a public way. But efforts to make journalism accessible have a much longer history.

While discussions about access features like alt-text and screen readers have come further and further into the spotlight, that’s not where this accessibility work started. From news reading services for the blind — like the National Federation of the Blind’s Newsline service — to captioning’s development in the 1970s for broadcast television, and the expansion of disability-led reporting at large and small newsrooms across the country, The Washington Post is taking a lead from precedent.

Geoff Freed, director of digital accessibility consulting at Perkins Access, says that companies looking to build accessibility need to understand that these processes aren’t just an advent of the last few years. These changes took work.

“I think, is important to note that the history that we’re talking about has all been rooted in advocacy. People who are blind, people who are deaf, not being able to access the newspaper or a TV show, and making noise and saying, ‘I want access to this, figure out a way to make it possible for me to get access to a Washington Post article, figure out a way for me to watch Masterpiece Theater.’”

What the job means more broadly

Freed, who over the last 30-plus years has played an integral role in the development of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines — the functional standard for web accessibility worldwide — said that what the Post is doing provides a signpost for other organizations that want to follow suit.

“The fact that somebody has come out and said ‘we’re doing this’ really indicates that not only are they taking it seriously, but they see … that the benefits extend way beyond the original target audience.”

The history of accessibility — on websites or otherwise — is littered with lawsuits and a compliance mindset. Foreman, who does not identify as disabled, said that he’s keenly aware of others working in the space, including those who have made web accessibility much of their life’s work, and that the niche of accessible design is always evolving. He said a key part of his role is reducing assumptions and not asking for labor unnecessarily from those who are deeply affected by inaccessibility, namely disabled people who are often required to self-advocate to get the bare minimum of accessibility on much of the internet. Their lived experience trumps whatever preconceived notions he or his colleagues may have.

“What we don’t want to do is have this approach of, ‘Fix our issues for us, or just do everything for us because it’s your experience’ … Myself not being disabled, of course, especially, right? I want to be cognizant of my positionality and be someone who’s helpful and a resource and not make assumptions. I think assumptions are basically at the core of what inaccessibility is.”

So, what now?

When the Post announced Foreman’s role on its engineering blog in January (a site that Foreman runs), it included a plain language summary — one example of accessibility being implemented. The Stanford grad says that his focus is fundamentally about building systems — both internal and audience-facing — that increase access and that media organizations benefit when they take accessibility out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

“If it’s always papers, kind of behind the scenes (saying) like, ‘Yeah, we’re aware of this and we’ll do some coverage and we’ll make some fixes but we’re not going to really like talk about it, or sort of showcase it or like, get it the space to shine,’ then I think a lot of it will go unnoticed. And, you know, publications are always kind of fending for attention and they want their content seen.”

Ran Ronen, who works in accessibility technology with his company Equally.ai, said building new systems,  rather than a very difficult retrofit, allows for deeper-rooted accessibility.

“So, when we talk about accessibility it’s, ‘How do we build a building that will be strong, will survive over time?’ … It’s just very hard for companies to just come to a developer and say, ‘OK, you now need to make (every) website, every code that you make accessible.’”

Ronen says he’s hopeful that efforts from large companies like the Post will spur development and lead people working in the technology space, including engineers, to see understanding accessibility as required learning for their career rather than a nice-to-have or an unimportant qualification.

Is accessibility a rich person’s game?

Most news organizations don’t have billionaire owners like Jeff Bezos, but Freed says that just because a company may not be on the Post’s scale doesn’t mean they can’t implement accessibility as foundational to their business.

“The most important thing though, is that even at a smaller scale, people are paying attention to the organization and they are learning, or they will be taught, to think about accessibility; not just do the coding, but to think about the motivations behind making materials accessible.”

Foreman said he feels that those interested in accessibility within engineering and media should feel empowered to reach out to others like him, especially if they are facing criticism over their outlet’s accessibility.

“I would encourage folks who find themselves in that situation, if you’re working in a newsroom or you’re becoming aware of these things but you don’t have the background or, the resources … to reach out to people in roles like mine, and The New York Times (accessibility visuals) editor. Because journalism is a community, a lot of us are on Twitter and other platforms and are there for a reason, which is to talk to people.”

This article has been updated to correct a misspelling of Holden Foreman’s name.