I think that the technology could be the key to  bridge those vocabulary and information gaps.  
    I went to Dave Edyburn's session at TRLD (Technology, Reading and Learning Diversity)  on "All my Text Talks!" where he demonstrated just how much more easily text is accessible in auditory form.  The times, indeed are a-changing.  Too many classrooms are five years behind the times, which didn't matter 20 years ago. (Remember the card catalog? Snork! Now we have www.msdewey.com , the saucy search engine online librarian) 
   The GED per se opens some doors, but not enough.  
   I would have to agree that it's the access to content and information that has excited me, because in my college setting we encounter students all the time who *have* that high school diploma or GED and therefore aren't eligible for ABE services anyway.  Yet, they don't have the skills to access our curriculum - and we, too, don't get the results we want from our highly regarded developmental education programs.... highly regarded because we do lots better than most. 
   I do think it's worth marketing the idea as something we're doing because it's the most effective and efficient way of getting information out there, as opposed to "this is because you can't read."  Maybe others don't have the issue, but the desire to avoid being stamped illiterate is huge (especially among those who have gotten that GED or diploma). 

Susan Jones
Academic Development Specialist
Academic Development Center
Parkland College
Champaign, IL  61821
sujones at parkland.edu
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