The Weather Channel Provides Coverage to the Disabled with eSSENTIAL Accessibility

Weather.com extends weather information to more than 20 million Americans with physical disabilities

eSSENTIAL Accessibility and Level Access have merged! Read More

The Weather Channel® Companies (TWCC), the world’s leading cross-platform media company, announced today a new partnership with eSSENTIAL Accessibility, a powerful online platform that assists individuals who have difficulty typing, moving a mouse or reading a web page. Our work is all part of a Disability Community Involvement initiative launched in association with leading advocacy groups for the disabled such as The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

We are committed to bringing organizations together with the common goal of reaching out to the disability community in a meaningful way. Our platform allows organizations to make expensive assistive technology available to everyone for free, thereby extending access to important online information to more Americans.

The Weather Channel is the first cross-platform media company to offer our solutions, which will allow more than 20 million Americans with physical disabilities to access weather forecasts and weather-related information online. A top-20 website, weather.com and the digital properties of The Weather Channel reach 60 million web consumers each month.

“The Weather Channel takes pride in making weather news content more accessible to a broader audience, whenever and wherever weather matters,” said Michael Finnerty, vice president of product for weather.com at The Weather Channel. “We are such an important and necessary resource for consumers that we must make sure weather forecasts and information are available online and readily accessible to those with physical disabilities any time they need.”

Users will now be able to click on the icon located on http://www.weather.com/ and use assistive technology to access weather information. This benefits individuals with dexterity limitations that arise from a variety of conditions including stroke, paralysis, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s disease among others. It also helps those who have difficulty reading because of literacy deficiencies, limited English proficiency, dyslexia or mild visual impairment.

“The Weather Channel is leading the way as the first major news network to join this initiative,” said Simon Dermer, managing director eSSENTIAL Accessibility. “TWC is setting a new standard for news services as they foster greater independence for people with disabilities in America.”

For more information and to see the eSSENTIAL Accessibility in action, visit weather.com.

About The Weather Channel Companies

Weather Channel Companies (TWCC) are made up of The Weather Channel® television network, The Weather Channel digital properties, and WSI. The Weather Channel is based in Atlanta and is seen in more than 100 million U.S. households. TWCC also operates Weatherscan®, a 24-hour all-local weather network; The Weather Channel Radio Network; and The Weather Channel HD. The most popular source of weather news and information, TWCC properties reach 60 million monthly Web consumers (weather.com and Desktop) and 32 million monthly mobile users (mobile Web and applications) and offers the second most popular mobile app on all smartphones. WSI, headquartered in Andover, MA, primarily provides business-to-business weather services, particularly for the media, aviation, marine and energy sectors. TWCC is owned by a consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. For more information, visit www.weather.com/press.