COVID-19 Continues to Highlight Gaps in Accessibility for People with Disabilities A year into the pandemic, COVID-19 continues to shine a light on long-standing health care disparities for those with disabilities. By Grace Fernandez | March 31, 2021 In a Bloomberg School article published 10 months ago, Bonnielin Swenor, PhD ’13, MPH ’09, an expert on disability inclusion and access to care said, “COVID-19 has highlighted the gaps in equitable situations for people with disabilities, and that really has to change.” Now, 10 months later and a year into the pandemic, not much has changed. “The gaps have absolutely persisted,” Swenor says. In the beginning of the pandemic, challenges for people with disabilities included access to and accessibility of information, COVID-19 testing, social distancing, and other recommended guidelines. More gaps are being seen in accessibility now that vaccines are becoming available. For the visually impaired, it’s become nearly impossible to schedule a vaccination online because many websites are incompatible with screen readers. “It’s challenging enough for anyone, but for someone with a disability—it’s an extra barrier,” says Swenor. “If you’re lucky enough to understand the prioritization, get signed up, be called—navigating the actual vaccine location may not be possible for someone who is visually or hearing impaired.”