Why Accessible Information is at the Heart of Social Impact
Published on the 30 July 2026 by Dr Ariella Meltzer, CSI 91É«ÇéƬ Senior Research Fellow
Dr Ariella Meltzer delivering the keynote address at the inaugural Accessible Information Forum held earlier this year in Melbourne. Source: Information Access Forum
Accessible information is not only about producing content in the right format. Done well, it becomes part of the infrastructure that allows people with disability to understand, trust and participate in social impact initiatives designed with and for them.
When Australia signed the in 2007, this included a commitment to Article 21: people with disability having access to information.
In a world with rapidly expanding information systems, growing volumes of online content and deepening issues around misinformation and AI fakes, it has never been more important to deliver information well to people with disability.
In a practical sense, providing accessible information means giving information in formats people with disability can use. Some are well-known: , or , for instance. Some are less widely recognised, but are rapidly gaining traction: , and information, for example – all different varieties of simplified information for people with intellectual disability and/or others who may find reading hard.
But beyond the technical features and mechanics of how you make these individual format types, what does it really mean at a deeper level to provide accessible information to people with disability? And how, when done well, can accessible information become an infrastructure of social impact?
What quality accessible information requires
To address these questions, our research team developed a set of five questions to ask, answer and implement to drive quality accessible information provision:
(1)      Audience – Who is the information for? This is about really knowing the audience of a particular piece of accessible information – knowing who they are, what they need, what makes them tick, feel included, what they want, what they don’t want. It’s not enough to apply a diagnostic label and call it quits – it is imperative to know the heart and lived experience of the community who is the audience.
(2)      Production – How is the information made? This is, on the one hand, about the rules and formatting requirements of each different accessible format type, and on the other hand, about ensuring that lived experience and co-design are the foundation of each format’s production process. The technical requirements must be met, in a way that draws on the knowledge of information users.
(3)      Dissemination – How is the information found? The underlying premise of this question is that even the most technically accessible piece of information will not be accessible if no one can find it, and so thorough dissemination is critically important. Often, for people with disability, online distribution is not enough, as , and so further engagement on the ground is required to make sure the information gets to where it needs to go.
(4)      Use – How is the information used? This is about truly knowing the contexts in which accessible information is used – whether people want to use it independently or will have a support person with them, and what people use accessible information for: not only finding out facts, but also forming opinions, having discussions and easing concerns. Often the answer to these questions is not the same for everyone. Again, detailed knowledge of the specific audience is required.
(5)      Trust – When is the information trusted? Like with dissemination, even the most technically accessible information is not really accessible if no one trusts it. Trust is about ensuring accessible information is detailed, accurate and up-to-date, and infused with the deep knowledge of the disability community. If it does not speak to disability experience, it will not resonate.
A panel discussion earlier this year as part of the inaugural Accessible Information Forum in Melbourne. Source: Information Access Group
Why accessible information matters for social impact
With the deeper and more expansive understanding of information accessibility built through these questions, it becomes easy to see how accessible information might be understood as an infrastructure of social impact.
So often in the world of social impact, we work with purpose to make change for – and yet, if the very people and communities we are working for cannot access or use information about what we are doing, then what is it all for?
Accessible information is a vital infrastructure of social impact initiatives for people with disability – and likely many others – because it determines whether people can understand, use and trust the work being done with and for them.
When we know who our audience is, how information should be produced, where it needs to be shared, how people use it and what makes it trusted, we are better able to communicate our social purpose and actions in ways that are meaningful and accessible. This is critical for accountability, credibility and quality in our work. Listening deeply and expansively to what people need from information is the foundation of crafting messaging that is accessible for those we are working for.
Dr Ariella Meltzer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Impact 91É«ÇéƬ. Much of her research focuses on information accessibility for people with disability, including the systems and cultures that drive accessibility. Ariella completed the work discussed in this article in collaboration with and .
To read more about the set of five information accessibility questions in this article, please visit the full research paper at:
If you require a non-paywalled copy of the full research paper, please contact Ariella at a.meltzer@unsw.edu.au
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