Ability Today is a not-for-profit education and resource platform training disabled people and providing pathways to employment.
Starting our Roving Reporter programme in 2018, we went on to launch our first Academy training course in 2020 and we now have 3 courses running across Journalism and SEO. Now in our 5th year with over 90 students passing through our online academy, we have student Alumni working full time as journalists at the BBC, Newsquest and ITV and as freelancers working for publications such as Metro, Radio Times, Lifestyle Magazine and many more.
In partnership with the NCTJ, Ability Today has helped train journalists for tomorrow's media jobs and aims make education and training accessible to all. In 2023 we partnered with Novos to launch the Academy for Disabled SEO Specialists, and in 2024 we are partnering with a financial services company and a leading coding educator to launch academies in bookkeeping and coding.
Working and studying from home has revolutionised the ability for disabled people to be active, included, and seek new opportunities. Online tools such as Zoom, online stenography, AI captions, notetakers and OBS software have allowed us to hold our classes online. Students can work around their disabilities and be active members in a class of their peers, no longer as the only disabled person in the room.