A Word from the Director

Meeting the Needs of Your Audience

The dissemination equation includes the User, Source, Content, Context, and Medium. To meet the needs of your target audience, you must know the characteristics of its members. This will guide your selection of content and medium to reflect what is beneficial and of use to your users.

Many resources are available to provide accessibility of information for people who are blind or visually impaired, those who are deaf or hard of hearing, or individuals who have other physical disabilities. Although there is agreement that people with cognitive disabilities have special needs, strategies and techniques to meet their needs are not as easily determined. Often, this group may simply be overlooked.

However, this audience of Americans with cognitive disability continues to grow. Individuals with cognitive disabilities demonstrate a wide range of needs and abilities; in addition, its members may reflect a variety of ethnic, cultural, social, economic, demographic, linguistic, or other characteristics. Just as research designs must be carefully planned and implemented, reports of research outcomes must be constructed with attention to how the research results might most appropriately be used by people with cognitive disabilities. There is no one formula that can be put into place to guarantee the desired results.

In considering the needs of people with cognitive disabilities in relation to use of the Internet, it becomes clear that disseminators must be equally concerned with accessibility and usability. Accessibility measures and usability assessments are needed to tailor both format and content to the needs of the wide-ranging audience referred to as persons with cognitive disabilities.

NIDRR grantees that have established and maintain relationships with consumers with cognitive disabilities have shared some of their experiences and strategies for this issue of The Research Exchange. Ideas are included for modifying print and Web-based materials to make them more accessible and more usable.

John D. Westbrook, Ph.D.
Director, NCDDR

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