Stronger Together
What happens when two powerhouse disability publications decide to pool their super-powers? Spoiler alert. The community wins, big. Today I am thrilled to announce that Able News at The Viscardi Center has stepped forward as an official Sponsor of Access Information News, guaranteeing that more than 40,000 of you will continue receiving your free weekly dose of accessibility and inclusion news each week, without ever bumping into a paywall.
First, a heartfelt thank-you to The Viscardi Center and its proud journalistic arm, Able News. Their leadership understands a truth that we live by every single week. Information only changes lives when everyone can reach it. Maintaining that kind of open door isn’t cheap, there are servers to keep running, accessibility audits to pass, and editors who refuse to sleep until every headline is crystal clear. Outside sponsorship is the engine that powers both Access Information News and our sibling newsletter, Top Tech Tidbits, and without fuel from mission-aligned partners like Viscardi, those engines would grind to a halt.
Our missions overlap so neatly it feels less like a sponsorship and more like a reunion. Able News has chronicled disability culture since 1991; Viscardi has championed education and employment for disabled people for more than seventy years; and AIN was built to make sure every breakthrough, policy shift, and life hack reaches you in time to matter. Together, we’re reinforcing an information pipeline that keeps the disability community connected, informed, and ready to act.
And now I’m asking you, dear reader, to help us widen this circle. Share a newsletter with a friend, introduce us to a potential sponsor, or simply keep sending us those tips and stories that light up our inboxes. Because we’re always stronger when we work together.
Why Sponsorship Matters: The Engine Behind Free Access
Every Monday morning more than 40,000 readers seek insights through Access Information News, and another 40,000 dive into Top Tech Tidbits each Thursday. Here’s the unvarnished ledger. Reliable email distribution to more than 80,000 inboxes per week isn’t gratis. Neither are the writers, editors, and accessibility testers who sweat the details so our content works with every screen reader and refreshable braille display in the wild today. Add hosting, security, and compliance, and the monthly burn rate climbs faster than the line items on an accessibility audit.
That’s why The Viscardi Center’s decision to back AIN is such a watershed moment. Viscardi and its Able News team aren’t just footing a bill; they’re investing in a knowledge commons that mirrors their own mission of education and empowerment. By aligning dollars with values, they’ve provided a living example of how institutions can transform goodwill into tangible, community-wide benefit.
Meet The Viscardi Center & Able News: Legacy, Impact, and Alignment
If you’ve spent any time in accessibility circles, you already know the name Viscardi carries serious weight. Founded in 1952 by Dr. Henry Viscardi, Jr., who wore prosthetic legs and advised eight U.S. presidents on disability policy, the Center has spent seven decades living its motto: Educate, Employ, Empower. From the Henry Viscardi School for K-12 students with complex physical disabilities to its workforce programs and digital accessibility services, it’s a cradle-to-career ecosystem built to open doors. Their annual Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards even shine a global spotlight on leaders advancing disability rights.
Fast-forward to 1991 and picture a Long Island basement converted into a mini-newsroom. That’s where Angela Miele Melledy laid out the first issue of Able News, determined to publish a paper written by disabled journalists for disabled readers. It didn’t take long for the monthly to earn its reputation as the “newspaper of record” for New York’s disability community, covering legislation, culture, sports, classifieds, all in accessible large print. Three decades and multiple awards later, its archives serve as a living chronicle of a movement.
In 2023 Able News found a new home under The Viscardi Center’s wing, trading ink and newsprint for a fully accessible web platform. The reboot kept Melledy as Publisher Emerita, tapped author and advocate Emily Ladau as Editor, and installed Viscardi’s own communications lead Kim Brussell as Managing Editor. The result? A sleeker, screen-reader-friendly monthly that doubles as a jobs board and media-training lab for Viscardi students, proof that heritage journalism can evolve without sacrificing soul.
That pedigree is what makes this feel less like a sponsorship and more like a reunion. Viscardi and Able News champion accuracy, accessibility, and empowerment, the very same pillars that hold up Access Information News and Top Tech Tidbits. By joining forces, we’re consolidating decades of expertise into one unstoppable information pipeline. Different outlets, shared audience, identical mission: give every disabled person the knowledge they need to navigate, and shape, the world.
The Partnership Story: From First Conversation to Formal Alliance
It began the old-fashioned way, with one accessibility advocate simply helping another. With the help of my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Kirk Adams, who also happens to be a 2024 Henry Viscardi Achievement Award Winner himself, I reached out to Kim Brussell, Viscardi’s communications lead and Managing Editor of Able News, to float an idea. What if the oldest disability newspaper in New York helped keep the newest global newsletter free? Within minutes we were swapping readership stats and finishing each other’s sentences about plain-language headlines and WCAG checklists. By the end of the call we both knew the partnership wasn’t a matter of if, but how fast.
Common purpose made the decision easy. Able News chronicles disability life; Access Information News reports on the policies, opinions and technology that shape that life. Our audiences overlap like two perfectly aligned Venn circles. Kim summed it up best when she called Able News “a unique source of high quality information” for reaching the community at scale, precisely the role AIN plays on the international stage. Two pipes, same water.
Formalizing the alliance was the fun part. Viscardi’s sponsorship places their logo in every issue of AIN and opens the door to cross-promoting Able News’ deep-dive stories for your enjoyment. In return, our 40K strong subscriber base gains a sturdier pipeline, and Viscardi students get first-hand exposure to digital publishing through joint partnerships. Win, win, and, yes, win again.
What Readers Gain: Immediate and Long-Term Benefits
First and foremost, your Monday ritual stays intact. The Viscardi Center’s backing guarantees that Access Information News will keep landing in your inbox every week. The lights stay on, the servers stay secure, and the headlines keep flowing straight into your inbox.
But there’s more on tap than continuity. Able News’ three decades of in-depth reporting, and Viscardi’s bench of educators, technologists, and policy pros, open an editorial treasure chest that we’ve only just begun to explore. Expect cross-pollinated interviews, joint investigations, and resource guides that braid Able’s grassroots insights with AIN’s global scope. If you’ve ever wished for a deeper dive on a headline we teased, chances are it’s about to surface.
This new partnership also unlocks fresh opportunities beyond the page. Viscardi’s jobs board gives job-seekers a direct line to inclusive employers, and we plan to expand event coverage so you hear about conferences and community gatherings before the registration deadlines vanish.
As always, both newsletters are a two-way street. Tell us what access information you need, which accessibility issues keep you up at night, or which unsung innovators deserve a spotlight. Hit reply, drop us a line, and help shape the coverage you count on.
How You Can Help: Extending the Circle of Support
Ready to step onto the Sponsor Wall yourself? Access Information News still has Sponsorship Packages available. Just $200 a month puts your logo in every issue, gives you a Classified Ad every week, Featured Ads at no additional charge (for quarterly and annual paying sponsors only), full Google-Analytics tracking and a permanent sponsor profile that lives on our site forever. Your SEO will literally hug you. Top Tech Tidbits? That ship is almost full, but still has a few packages available as of this writing. When there are no packages available, we always keep a waiting list, and just one email puts you on it.
Not in the budget right now? No worries. You can still extend your reach with our one-time advertisements, or by simply forwarding a newsletter to your network, sharing our posts on social, or introducing us 📧️ to an organization that should be supporting free accessibility news, but isn’t yet. One personal referral can shave months off of our outreach calendar.
And if dollars aren’t your currency, donate a different commodity: knowledge. Send us news tips, volunteer a guest column, offer your expertise for an interview, or advocate for accessibility at your workplace. Every contribution widens the pipeline and keeps the information flowing to the people who need it most.
Bottom line: whether you sponsor, advertise, share, or simply speak up, you’re reinforcing a community resource that has no equal. Let’s keep the circle growing, together.
Before You Go
With Able News at The Viscardi Center joining Access Information News, the flow of high-quality disability and access-tech news is now much brighter for the foreseeable future. My deepest thanks to Dr. Chris Rosa, Kim Brussell, Emily Ladau, and the entire Viscardi crew for placing their trust, and resources, behind Access Information News. And of course, to every subscriber who opens these emails, sends tips, and keeps us in the know: you are the reason the inbox light stays green.
The best part is what comes next. We’ll keep pushing the envelope on accessibility, innovation, and community engagement, because that’s what you expect, and what we both love to deliver.
So here’s your mission, should you choose to accept it. Spread the word, invite a friend, and let’s grow the disability news community together.
Cheers,
