By Alexandra Panousis

What if I told you that your advertising messaging and media don’t reach the largest DEI cohort?

Even though one in four people report having a disability in the U.S., while in Canada that total grows to 27% of the population, research by The Valuable 500 finds that the vast majority of disabled consumers don’t feel accurately portrayed in media and marketing. This lack of authentic representation hinders brands from connecting with the disability community, which holds $13 trillion in buying power and represents the largest marginalized group globally, one that anyone can join at any time.

As an industry, we’ve made strides in advertising messaging. Representation matters, and hereare some great examples:

• Apple’s Accessibility Features: Apple showcases its commitment to accessibility and innovation through its products.

• Cadbury Fingers: The “Sign with Fingers Big and Small” ad brings awareness to the unintentional exclusion of deaf people from everyday conversations.

• Sobeys Canada: featuring Canadian influencer Taylor Lindsay-Noel in a social media spot.

@accessbytay Words of encouragement go a long way. Leave your support for Team Canada athletes at FeedTheDream.ca – #FeedTheDream #SobeysPartner #Ad @Sobeys ♬ Hip Hop Background(814204) – Pavel

However, despite these strides, many ads still miss the largest DEI group: people with disabilities. In the last decade, we’ve learned that the traditional focus – reaching people aged 18 to 49 – is largely irrelevant. Personalized buying has improved our strategies, but it’s still imperfect. Segments, signals, interests, cohorts and personalization have made advertising more effective, but progress is not perfection.

Attending the Disability:IN conference in Las Vegas was a game-changer. My colleague, David Palmer, summed it up perfectly: “We create advertising for the average, not the masses.” One example, there are seven million blind users on Meta daily. Do your ads reach them today?

How can we improve?

First, start by learning and unlearning, and embrace the opportunity to change and broaden your go-to-market strategies. Disability advocacy organizations offer useful frameworks and checklists, such as the one from non-profit resource organization Disability:IN.

The resources offered by Disability:IN includes alt-text (text descriptions of images for screen readers), video descriptions (textual descriptions for blind or low-vision viewers), captions (essential for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers), transcripts (making video and audio content accessible), camel case hashtags (capitalizing the first letter of each word in hashtags for readability), plain language (simple, clear and concise) and meaningful hyperlinks (introducing links clearly on social media).

You do better when you know better

Accessibility is a journey. Start by educating yourself and sharing knowledge across your organization. Change can seem daunting, but with small steps, such as improving the accessibility of your social media posts, creating accessibility guidelines and establishing standards that are championed by leadership, you can get there.

To make advertising more effective in reaching this important cohort, ensure you implement inclusive design, value representation and lived experiences, and engage with disability advocacy groups for insights and feedback. Adhere to accessibility regulations and ethical standards, and train marketing teams on inclusivity best practices to ensure respectful and empowering campaigns.

Start testing creative tech that can help. Before placing media, have conversations with your platform partners. All of them have resources available. 

Follow brands that are doing great work in this space. One great example is Procter & Gamble. They are a trailblazer here, offering valuable insights and practical recommendations for enhancing accessibility. A standout initiative is their integration of audio descriptions in video ads. This innovative tool enables blind or visually impaired individuals to “see” the displayed content, making it accessible to approximately 30 million people with visual impairments.

Not every stride is perfect. Recently, the Reddit app introduced an update that made it nearly impossible for blind moderators to operate on mobile. This lack of foresight highlighted the need for companies to integrate accessibility from the start and avoid rushed, untested updates that fail to take disabled segments of the population into consideration. The good news is that they have committed to fixing this, which is great for the platform and for this important audience​ 

Pioneering a future of accessibility

Remember, no one has all of the answers, and inclusivity transformation is not a one and done opportunity for brands. We all need a learning mindset, particularly as technological advances are shifting and shaping what is possible. Pioneering a future where accessibility is the standard, not an afterthought, is the opportunity for all of us. By leading this charge, we can inspire change, drive innovation, and create a more equitable world for everyone​.

Alex Panousis is the chief growth officer at Thinkingbox