Marie Follaytar is a long-term Maine political strategist and organizer in disability justice who currently volunteers with Disability Voters of Maine.

This morning, I was less than 20 seconds into scrolling online and it happened. By the time I realized what was wrong, I already felt it: tired, angry, excluded.

It wasn’t the message that caused harm. It was that, once again, a candidate was seeking to represent all and my community was left out entirely in the campaign ad. 

There were no subtitles in the video. No way for many people with disabilities to access what the candidate was saying. A campaign message designed to persuade … that never even reached us.

This is not new.

I’ve worked on political campaigns and with organizations across Maine and around the country. Over and over again, I raise the same issue: people with disabilities are not being included in how campaigns, leaders, influencers and organizations communicate. I’ve flagged this with the White House, the Maine Democratic Party and U.S. senators. When you have to raise the same issue six times with one person, it becomes clear this is not a knowledge gap but a conscious choice to exclude. 

In 2022, I asked the Human Rights Committee in South Portland to push for accessible social media and to integrate digital accessibility into our schools. Inclusion is something we should be learning early.

The consequences of getting this wrong are serious. A report by Disability Rights Maine found that during the COVID-19 lockdown, communications from the CDC were so inaccessible that many people with disabilities did not receive the same guidance on how to protect themselves. A lack of accessible communication can be a matter of life or death.

The problem persists in 2026. 

What do I mean when I say “accessible”?

Surely, most people assume that if something is posted online, everyone can access it. Doesn’t the Americans with Disabilities Act cover that?

Wrong.

The majority of content on our major social media platforms is not accessible to many people with disabilities. Overall, 28.7% of adults or around 70 million people, have a disability in the United States and 43.9% of people over 65 report a disability.  

What can you do to make your social media accessible? 

Add subtitles to videos so people who are deaf or hard of hearing can follow along. Include alt text on images so screen readers can describe images to blind users and others who use screen readers. Use camel case in hashtags so they can be read correctly. Make all graphics with strong contrast so they are legible. Use plain language so your message can actually be understood.

This exclusion doesn’t stop online. It shapes who gets to participate in our political system online and offline. Campaign events continue to exclude people who need interpreters, CART, or assisted listening devices. Access needs are rarely asked for when people sign up to volunteer or attend events, and there is often no clear person responsible for accommodations. Phone banking, canvassing and organizing systems are often designed with no consideration for how people with disabilities can participate. (These are only some ways to build in accessibility and there are many other ways to include people that are important to discuss and know.)

This exclusion has real consequences. If people cannot access your content, they cannot engage with your ideas. When people cannot attend events, they are shut out of community and the building of political power. When participation is blocked by disability, time, cost, caregiving or transportation barriers, people are excluded from organizing itself.

This is how our people are shut out of the democratic process. Accessibility is the line between representation and exclusion.

We need every candidate in Maine to commit to making their campaigns accessible to the disability community. If they do not, we are not being represented. We are being excluded.