According to The Return on Disability Report the disability market is larger than China and growing – 1.85 billion people. Consumer insights experts also monitor and include the friends and family of disabled individuals, which adds another 3.4 billion potential consumers. Together, these groups have over $13 trillion in annual disposable income.
Disability inclusion means intentionally cultivating environments where all can flourish. It means taking action to make change happen. It means including disabled consumers. Whilst many corporations remain fearful of sticking their head above the parapet, undeniably, small steps lead to greater action. When we can get multiple corporations collectively taking steps then we can affect system change and transform the way in which we do business. Recently there have been several disability inclusion innovations that are all great to see.
The best way to ensure success when launching a product or service to the disability community is to work with disabled people from the start. Listening to the voices of people with disabilities is the only way to truly understand their needs, and how to meet them in the most effective way possible. Embedding Disability inclusion within business strategies from inception saves a great deal of time, costs and pain later when trying to retrofit products and services to make them accessible. Google recently worked with blind and low vision users to create its innovative new ‘Guided Frame’ feature for Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.
The feature includes precise audio feedback as well as haptic feedback (vibrations) to help people snap the perfect picture without needing to see the image displayed on screen. Google also partnered with blind content creator, YouTuber and speaker, Molly Burke, to launch the new feature in a film showcasing how it works.
Creating more spaces where people with disabilities can find adaptive products at reasonable prices is so important as, far too often, they are hard to find and expensive to purchase. Zalando launched its first-ever adaptive fashion range in 25 markets worldwide, consisting of more than 140 styles across its private labels. This game changing movement towards making adaptive products more accessible is important. To help disabled people discover, browse and shop the adaptive fashion assortment, Zalando has launched an adaptive fashion hub, dedicated adaptive collection pages and a flag for identifying adaptive styles.
The styles include seated clothes fit for wheelchair users, sensory-friendly styles for skin sensitivities or neuro-divergences, styles with easy closures and styles suitable for prosthetics or bandages. Zalando started the design process for its adaptive offering by conducting extensive qualitative and quantitative customer research to better understand the experience and needs of disabled customers.
Sara Diez, VP Category Women and Private Labels, Zalando said: “We see a gap in the fashion market — finding fashionable adaptive clothing still represents a challenge for disabled people. By launching adaptive fashion on Zalando, we hope to contribute to solving this challenge. We want to learn from the disabled community and inspire our partners, so that together we can continue making fashion even more inclusive.”
Zalando's adaptive range includes more than 140 styles across its private labels
Another brand leading in products is L’Oréal. An estimated 50 million people globally live with limited fine motor skills. This makes some daily gestures, like applying makeup, challenging. Under development by L’Oréal scientists and engineers, HAPTA is a handheld, ultra-precise smart makeup applicator for users with limited hand and arm mobility, offering them the ability to steadily apply lipstick at home.
The key to HAPTA is its combination of built-in smart motion controls plus customizable attachments that give the user an improved range of motion, increased ease of use for difficult-to-open packaging, and precision application that is otherwise hard to achieve - to help individuals feel confident, independent, and empowered to enjoy the self-expressive power of beauty.
As a Disability Confident Leader, Channel 4 offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for a role. With 11% of their employees self-identifying as disabled, one of the highest percentages in the media industry, they have pledged to increase it to 12% in 2023. Last year, Giles Barker was appointed Workplace Disability Lead at Channel 4, a brand-new role for the broadcaster. Giles said: “I am thrilled to join such an iconic organisation whose reputation has been driven forward by a constant focus on inclusion and innovation.”
Giles’ role is focused on ensuring Channel 4 is one of the best places for disabled talent to work in the UK. Moreover, in March 2022 Channel 4 led a pan industry move to introduce Inclusion passports for staff. Channel 4 along with ITV, BBC, STV, UKTV, S4C and Paramount UK have consulted to agree a similar approach which will see broadcasters encouraging staff to communicate their adjustment needs in the workplace. The inclusion passports are confidential and support conversations with line managers to ensure colleagues obtain the right adjustments and support at work.
Santen, in partnership with One Young World, launched a Lead2030 Challenge on “Closing the Disability Employment Gap.” Addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, they invited applications from young innovators who are working on sustainable, market-ready, and scalable solutions that have demonstrated meaningful impact for the employability of people with disabilities.
Their Lead2030 challenge was awarded to Bonny Dave of Trestle Labs, an assistive-technology company in India with products that help listen, translate, and digitize printed, handwritten, and digital content across 60+ languages. Aligned to their ambition to reduce the loss of social and economic opportunities for people with vision impairment, the solutions developed by the Lead2030 Challenge winner will enable schools and work environments to be more accessible and inclusive.
Even when products and services are themselves inclusive of disabled people, parts of the wider customer journey may not be. Businesses need to ensure that they consider all aspects of the customer experience in order to make it truly accessible. Last year L’Oréal launched accessible packaging to improve customer experiences with the brand. It developed a universal tool that allows consumers to hear audio product information via their smartphone by scanning a QR code on packaging.
Sacha Fellous, Product Development, L'Oréal said: "Now we have a universal tool that can enable QR code and smartphone vocalisation. Together they can provide information all consumers have a right to.” This is a huge advance in making packaging more accessible for people with visual impairments, and replaces the common use of Braille, which is challenging to learn and limiting in terms of the information it can contain.
QR codes on L’Oréal accessible packaging
Microsoft partnered with the disability community to build new accessibility features as part of the Windows 11 2022 update. Creating and updating accessibility features on existing products and services is vital to the inclusion of disabled consumers. These accessible-by-design features include System-Wide Live Captions to automatically generate captions from any form of audio content on Windows 11, voice access that allows users to control their PCs and write text using only their voice, and Natural Voices for Narrator, which mirrors natural speech more closely. Microsoft also announced a new Adaptive Accessories line, which lets users configure, 3D print, and customise their own mouse, keyboard inputs, and shortcuts, to create an ideal set up that works for them.
As well received as these technological innovations and progressive schemes may be – we need more. By actively listening to people with lived experience at every stage of the process, from development and design to marketing and distribution, businesses position themselves to serve their consumers better from a place of real understanding. Let’s continue to move away from empty platitudes and insist upon implementing palpable schemes with disability inclusion at the centre.