Volodymyr Pyrih, a 38-year-old resident of Lviv, has been blind since childhood and has a disability, but he has been working as a journalist for nearly 20 years. He is currently the news editor at Hromadske Radio, working remotely from home. Volodymyr publishes breaking news from all regions of Ukraine on the media outlet’s website and edits photos and graphics. Read the article to learn about the challenges the journalist faces and how Hromadske Radio integrates the principles of diversity, equality, and inclusion into its policies in accordance with Council of Europe standards.

Volodymyr Pyrih began his career in journalism in 2008 as a writer covering mobile communications and technology. He also served as a staff reporter for a Kyiv-based news outlet and as a news editor for a local media outlet.

“In 2014, I landed my first job at a fairly influential publication. It was ‘Zaxid.net,’ which has a strong readership. And that was a major career leap for me, because they believed in me,” says the journalist.

Volodymyr worked at that publication for nine years. And in August 2024, he joined the team at Hromadske Radio.

“I submitted my resume, and they contacted me. I didn’t mention that I’m blind until the end of the interview. During the online interview, I talked about my skills, showed examples of my work, and completed a test assignment. And once we agreed that I might theoretically be a good fit for them, I told them I was blind. They were surprised, but they said, ‘Let’s give it a try.’ And I’ve been working with them since August 2024,” the man says.

During his workday, Volodymyr publishes about 20 news stories from all regions of Ukraine on the Hromadske Radio website. He finds them on government websites and social media.

In his work, Volodymyr uses special software that helps him read text and recognize images or documents.

Volodymyr notes that the hardest part of his job, as for any news reporter, is the large flow of information that needs to be processed quickly. But on top of that, there are difficulties with processing photos for news stories. His colleagues and artificial intelligence help him cope with this.

“I spend a lot of time using artificial intelligence to identify photos. Before, there was no artificial intelligence, so I had other ways of searching for photos. And when these photos don’t have descriptions, and you don’t know what’s shown in them, it’s certainly difficult because it takes a lot of time to find out the description, size, and format,” the journalist explains.

According to Volodymyr, not all websites in Ukraine – even government ones – are currently accessible to blind people.

“Despite the fact that the government talks a lot about accessibility, in practice, we’re still very far from it. I’ll give a simple example. Before coming to this interview, I had to go to the tax office. Why did I go there? Because the taxpayer’s portal, and especially the form for filing the annual tax return, is inaccessible to blind users. And so, to avoid making mistakes, I had to go to the tax office to get help there. There is a lot that needs to be improved, and a lot that needs to be worked on,” notes Volodymyr.

Hromadske Radio has become one of the media outlets implementing inclusive practices not only in content creation but also in the organisation of its editorial operations. Through its participation in the Council of Europe’s media accessibility program, the editorial team has developed two documents: an external editorial policy and an internal practical guide for the team.

Viktoriia Yermolaieva, Editor-in-Chief of Hromadske Radio

“This allows us not only to declare our values but also to put them into practice every day. Because for us, inclusion isn’t about the number of mentions, but about how we work, what language we use, who speaks in our stories, and whether the content is accessible to everyone. We rely on an approach grounded in human rights and international standards. This means that people with disabilities and other groups that may face discrimination are represented by us as full-fledged members of society – not as objects of pity, but as experts, heroes, and our colleagues. “One of our core principles is ‘nothing about us without us.’ We do not speak about communities without their voices, and we do not reduce a person solely to their experience of trauma,” emphasized Viktoriia Yermolaieva, Editor-in-Chief of Hromadske Radio.

In addition, Hromadske Radio is improving access to its content: adding subtitles to videos, providing alternative descriptions, and explaining complex terms.

“We’re also changing our internal processes. We’re making the work environment flexible and accessible, implementing inclusive internships, supporting veterans, and adapting our work to people’s needs, not the other way around. And it’s important that this isn’t a one-time initiative. We regularly review our approaches, analyse content, respond to feedback, and acknowledge mistakes when they happen. For us, inclusion and equality are not a separate topic, but a way of working every day,” notes Viktoriia Yermolaieva.

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