This UN Day for Persons with Disabilities, we caught up with our wonderful Emily Saunders-Madden, Strategy & Insight extraordinaire, and inclusion & disability advocate, to get her thoughts on how companies can celebrate the value of employees with disabilities…
Emily says…
While the day’s name is a mouthful, its message is simple: give those around you who are living with disabilities their moment.
For those unaware, disability awareness is what all the purple lights and #PositivelyPurple are all about. Sounds a bit like another tick box rather than a fundamental change in equity and inclusion, doesn’t it? But as an award-winning researcher, strategist and mother living with a physical disability, I’ve found conversations around disability are increasingly positive because of these platforms. My disability does not define me like it once did; it’s literally the last thing on that list.
Yes, living with a disability makes me more adaptable and open-minded than I would otherwise be, but my background and education also feed into that. It’s one example of the idea that everyone is made up of more than one ‘label’. For anyone interested, this is a theory known as intersectionality. It explains that I’m much more informed by my working-class childhood and university education than I am about what it’s like to be blind (I’m not) or from a blended family (I’m not).
If you only take one thing away from this piece, remember that disability is personal and often incidental rather than wholly defining.
I’d like to think we all connect with people based on shared experience. That can start with making coffee for colleagues or letting people know how I take my tea (very important here in the UK!). I’m just as multi-layered as anyone else experiencing sleepless nights while the baby is teething, taking part in debates over music taste and proving my experience is much more relevant to work than where or how I sit to do my job. Someone else might need to come grab the massive tray of tea and coffee though.
In my experience, the crucial element for equity is the fact that the people around me embrace what I need because it allows me to be the best version of myself.
In simple terms, my colleagues know I need a stable chair with arms, so that’s the one they save for me before the meetings. My friends know I won’t always be up for late nights drinking alcohol, so they’ll come to me for daytime mocktail or chai recommendations. And my family allow for naptime and extra safety briefings when planning sporting holidays. These ‘accommodations’ allow me to lead meetings with confidence, maintain a meaningful social life, and experience every adventure life has to offer. After all, who wants to jump out of a plane when tandem abseiling into an Australian jungle will do?
DRP Group know “Inclusion is for life, not just hashtags”.
Back in 2021 gender, race and sexuality were topping audience concerns in the wake of the Me Too, Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements. These movements made generations wake up to the reality of differing lived experiences. They unwittingly built on the international work of organisations like Amnesty International, Equality Now and Stonewall to teach the public to question our inherent bias. The following open discussions around gender, sexism and racism laid the groundwork for uncomfortable conversations around inclusion in society, at work and in the media. Disability is often an underdog on that long, complex list of issues underpinning equality. As mentioned in my previous article, the Shutterstock Diversity Report highlighted that 61% of UK marketers thought more representation of disabilities was needed and I couldn’t have agreed more.
There are some great examples of positive disability representation in media and marketing:
Google had Stevie Wonder narrate their Super Bowl 2024 advertisement, directed by a blind director, highlighting the features that make the Pixel 8 more authentically accessible than their previous products.
Actors like Marissa Bode (Wicked), Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), RJ Mitte (Breaking Bad) and Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) continue to raise the profile of success despite disability in Hollywood.
Netflix have made multilingual content their standard: not only making local versions of international programming, dubbing in over 100 languages (they operate in 190 countries), providing signing options where available, but also going so far as editing UK-made shows into US or Australian English. Perhaps it’s not a disability, but language is certainly a barrier.
As of 2024, 90% of all Mattel games are colourblind accessible. Mattel now use patterns, shapes, icons and tactile markers rather than relying only on colour to differentiate player pieces or game segments. This doesn’t change play for anyone already able; it makes their games accessible to the 300 million people globally living with some form of vision difference.
There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach but that doesn’t mean accessibility is insurmountable.
Most people know you can’t be entirely accessible overnight. Start with small, consistent acts of improvement. From an environment point of view, control what you can: ensure any automatic doors and lifts are working, hold interviews on a step-free floor, provide a variety of seating arrangements, allow your employees some flexibility in their break times and holidays. From a communication point of view: consider the latest WCAG guidelines on your digital platforms, when organising events make dietary requirements mandatory before you design a menu, be aware that 1 in 8 men has a colour deficiency so ensure high contrast signage in your spaces, and don’t sign off videos unless they include subtitles and sound options. No, it’s not perfect nor an exhaustive list but it’s a start.
If you’re still not sure, ask your people what they need. But be human first. If you regularly work with a visually impaired individual, or you’ve noticed some of your customers have assistance dogs, or perhaps you’ve got a large percentage of parents or carers in your organisation, notice what others do to help those individuals. Keep it simple. Tell guests guide dogs are welcome, make a quiet break room available and slip test flooring. Trust your people but don’t assume their needs stay the same. More than anything, celebrate success as much as you dwell on improving failure.
I hate being the bearer of bad news but it’s also worth mentioning that “the disabled community is the only marginalised community that anybody can join at any time.” So it’s absolutely worth demanding a bit more recognition.
It’s vital we continue to recognise that most accessibility improvements benefit a much wider audience.
Now you’re thinking about it, you’ve probably watched a video on social media today with subtitles on simply because the sound is annoying, maybe you’ve crossed a road at a dropped curb because it was easier, or you turned the radio down to improve your concentration while driving. These were once all accessible accommodations. Disabled or not, you have preferences too. I bet you’re reading this on a screen set just the way you like it.
