You won’t find a success criterion in the WCAG guidelines about representation, but your company should take the representation of people with disabilities into account when producing digital content. The goal of accessibility is for people with disabilities to have equal access to the world. Following digital accessibility guidelines is essential to providing that access.
And since people avoid places where they feel unwelcome, it is also essential that people with disabilities feel welcome in virtual spaces. And welcoming people with disabilities into your digital spaces isn’t just the right thing to do. It's good for business.
People with disabilities represent a large percentage of potential customers. This article will discuss why representation matters and how to start improving representation in your digital content.
Representation matters
Many groups of historically oppressed people, such as people of color, immigrants, women, and queer people, are underrepresented on tv and in movies. A 2021 study by The Rep Project found that:
- Only around a third of movie characters are female.
- The percentage of black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) characters in movies is 33%, compared with 40% of the population.
- LGBTQ+ characters are 1.7% percent of movie characters, compared with 4.5% of the population.
This underrepresentation has consequences. But perhaps more importantly, including positive representation has positive consequences. Recently, videos of young black girls’ excited reactions to seeing a trailer of the Little Mermaid played by a black actress went viral. And the overwhelming success of films like Black Panther shows that representation is good for business.
Representations of disability
Like other groups of historically oppressed people, people with disabilities do not often see themselves reflected in media such as TV shows and movies. A study by the Rep Project found that while approximately 30% of people in the U.S. have a disability, less than 5% of television characters have a disability. A study by Nielsen found only 4.2% of movies and television shows from the last century had disability-related content or themes.
How movies and television shows portray people with disabilities also matters. Shows frequently connect disability with villainry. The villain’s disability visually represents their broken soul. People with disabilities are also often portrayed as bitter or objects of pity. They are also used as inspiration for other characters instead of as people with their own rich lives.
Like positive representations of people of color, positive representations of people with disability are good for business. A study by Nielsen found that people with disabilities are 17% more likely to interact with a brand if that company’s ads featured people with disabilities. When your business’ digital content includes depictions of people with disabilities, they feel welcome in your digital spaces.
How to digitally welcome people with disabilities to your business
The first step is to include people with disabilities in images, videos, or stories. Remember that the disability community is large and diverse. Try to show people with less-commonly represented disabilities. For example, you could include images and videos of people with albinism, significant scarring, or speech difficulties like stuttering.
Including a full spectrum of disabilities can be difficult, as not all disabilities are visual. Consider images of people using assistive devices, which can also underscore your company’s commitment to accessibility. Again, try to branch out from the devices we commonly see in images and videos. In addition to wheelchairs, white canes, and sign language interpreters, consider augmentative and alternative communication devices, communication boards, or Alternative Access Devices such as mouth sticks, head wands, and sip and puff systems.
Also, make sure to think carefully about word choices. You could consider person-first language. There is disagreement on using person-first language, but if you take the time to explore its nuances, you can successfully navigate it. You should avoid outdated and offensive terms and patronizing phrasing like “handicapable” or “differently abled.”
If your digital spaces or advertisements include stories, include people with disabilities in those stories. This can be an opportunity to include people with invisible disabilities like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, depression, or chronic pain. It can be tempting to spotlight people with disabilities as inspiring. But this uses their story for others rather than making it about them. Comedian Stella Young popularized the phrase “inspiration porn” to describe this phenomenon.
Conclusion
Full accessibility means ensuring people with disabilities feel welcome. To feel welcome, people need to see themselves reflected in the content they encounter. Including images and stories of people with disabilities helps achieve that. Make sure that your representations are positive and diverse, avoid offensive language, and avoid using people with disabilities as inspiration for others.
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