Inclusive marketing is crucial in today's world, where nearly 15% of the world's population experiences some form of disability. Historically, the portrayal of people with disabilities in marketing has rendered them all but invisible, but it's time to change that. The insights that follow were built with input from community partners and may be used as a starting point to help create marketing that positively and authentically represents people with disabilities – including, but more importantly, beyond key moments like Disability Employment Awareness Month campaigns.
The premise of disability-inclusive marketing is that marketing should represent and be accessible to all people with or without disabilities. Not only is including people with disabilities the right thing to do, but it also makes marketing more authentic. Authentic marketing can do more to represent the wide range of abilities and neurodiversity in the world around us.
Around the world, over 1 billion people live with some form of disability. In the U.S., 20.3 million families have at least one member with a disability, and one in four adults live with a disability. Ultimately, most people will live with some form of disability in their life. This market size doubles when considering family members, caregivers, and others.
There is no single way to define disability – it’s an umbrella term with different meanings across different people. One thing is certain: the world is filled with people who have a range of apparent and non-apparent disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a person with a disability as someone who has “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.” Yet many people don’t define themselves by or feel limited because of their disability — instead view disability as a strength.
Disabilities are not always apparent. One U.S. study found that among people with disabilities, 74% don’t use anything that could visually signal their disability. Non-apparent disabilities can often limit daily activities, range from mild challenges to severe limitations, and vary from person to person. Disability is often broken into several broad classifications, such as blind or low-vision, chronic health conditions, deaf or hard-of-hearing, learning disabilities, neurodiversity, physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and speech disabilities.
Inclusive marketing can make a positive impact on society and is also good for business. Inclusion must be a top priority in all marketing efforts, and it's up to us to make sure that every disabled person has the right to experience the creative put out in the world. By partnering with community organizations and using a disability-inclusive marketing playbook, we can create marketing that positively and authentically represents people with disabilities. Let's commit to making marketing more inclusive and working towards a more equitable world.
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