Despite making up 16% of the global population, disabled people remain significantly underrepresented across media, communications, and consumer touchpoints. When businesses prioritise authentic representation, they unlock both market opportunity and social impact.
Representation is about more than visibility – it’s about ensuring that people with disabilities participate at every stage of business processes, from design to marketing to delivery, both on camera and behind the scenes.
The System Barrier
Our research identifies three key pillars of inclusive representation that face significant barriers:
- Accessible Experiences: Over 50% of disabled consumers face barriers accessing content and products. Companies must ensure all touchpoints are universally accessible – without accessibility, representation is meaningless.
- Accurate Representation: Just 2% of disabled consumers feel accurately portrayed in media and marketing. Companies must reflect the true prevalence, diversity, and intersectionality of disability.
- Authentic Narratives: Media often perpetuates outdated tropes and harmful stereotypes. Brands must disrupt outdated narratives by ensuring disabled people tell their own stories.
These three pillars are underpinned by a common, fundamental barrier: insufficient representation of disabled people in the workforce itself. When disabled talent is absent from creative, production, and decision-making roles, authentic representation becomes virtually impossible to achieve.
Synchronised Collective Action
When businesses prioritise authentic disability representation, it transforms both consumer experiences and brand perception. Creating inclusive content and products drives innovation, builds brand loyalty, and opens untapped market opportunities.
Our Valuable 500 partners and companies are taking Synchronised Collective Action by adopting our Key Principles for Authentic Representation – a flexible framework that guides organisations at any stage of their disability inclusion journey.
Coming in 2025, our Authentic Representation Tool (ART) will revolutionise how businesses approach disability representation in media and marketing. Developed collaboratively with disability experts and leading agencies, ART provides a comprehensive self-assessment across our three pillars, delivering tailored recommendations and practical resources to transform how disability is portrayed across all consumer touchpoints.
