Disability: Accessibility and representation

Disability: Accessibility and representation

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ Nuria Seguí.

This is the latest report in the monthly Adobe Stock Cultural Insights series, which includes a curated collection of related visuals and focuses on topics that are visually in flux, driven by changes in the world and their effects on consumer priorities.

An estimated 1.3 billion people around the world currently live with a disability, and this number is estimated to grow to 2 billion by 2050. In addition, a global Return on Disability report estimates that People with Disabilities (PWD), along with their friends and family members, account for over 73 percent of consumers and control more than $13 trillion in annual disposable income. People with disabilities represent the third-largest market segment in the US.

This report explores more accurate ways of representing the intersectional identities and experiences of people living with a spectrum of physical and intellectual disabilities as well as projects and technologies being developed to make the world more accessible to this major demographic.

Adaptive technology

Adaptive technology includes any kind of software, equipment, or product that helps a disabled individual improve, increase, or maintain specific functional capabilities. It also helps improve hand and finger dexterity, cognitive memory, hearing, mobility, learning, and more. Examples of adaptive products range widely from apparel to gaming accessories.

Coresight Research put the potential market value of adaptive design at $64.3 billion. Mainstream brands have been slow to embrace adaptive design, but there are a few but there are a few noteworthy brands like IZ Adaptive and Unhidden paving the way forward to create adaptive clothing for those with disabilities. Adaptive apparel includes design elements such as adaptive fastenings - magnetic closures - flexible, hands-free shoes - and more.

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ Michaela Oteri and elypse.

Harnessing AI

While the quickly growing capabilities of AI raise many justifiable questions and concerns, the technology has the potential to make products and experiences more accessible and personalized for individuals with many types of disabilities.

For instance, Honda is enhancing car rides for the blind and visually impaired with its Honda Scenic Audio Project. Developed in partnership with Perkins School for the Blind's Howe Innovation Center in suburban Boston, the app uses a combination of AI and various data-sets to Perkins School for the Blind's give passengers real-time descriptions of the view outside their windows. For example, if it's a drizzly day, the app will describe raindrops pelting the facade of Fenway Park.

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ Yakobchuk Olena.

And Esper Bionics has embarked on a project to build a bionic hand by using machine learning to analyze the way a person uses a prosthetic hand. This information will teach the machine to predict the intended movement in the future and could be used to help more people with disabilities enjoy the outdoors.

Spaces and places

Image credit: Adobe Stock/Hernandez & Sorokina/Stocksy.

Wayfinding

While the notion of accessible design often refers to products and technology, it's also the way places and spaces are planned and constructed. "Wayfinding" refers to information systems that guide people through a physical environment and enhance their understanding and experience the space.

There are two kinds of wayfinding: active and passive. Rafel Crespo, architect at White Aritekter, described them for Creative Review in the following way: Active wayfinding "requires components to be added to the environment to formally promote spatial orientation", such as signs and maps. Passive wayfinding "uses the environment itself to guide visitors intuitively, such as clear entrances and logical pathways." Ultimately both active and passive wayfinding tools "work together to make logical and accessible environments."

Image credit: Adobe Stock/Muriel and Ilia Nesolenyi.

Companies like Indeed are working to create spaces that are accessible for every ability. They're incorporating sensorial and interactive wayfinding systems such as textured landscaping, contrast-colored paving, and motion-sensor lighting to cater to people with disabilities and neurodivergence.

Sensory pathways and parks with scented plants and tactile pathways support people with vision-related disabilities as well as others. Tactile surfaces and features within public spaces are key to addressing both practical and emotional needs. Color, texture, and interactive elements can have soothing benefits for people with developmental disabilities or neurodivergence.

Travel

A report by the travel marketing company MMGY Global estimates that people with mobility disabilities spend 58.2 billion a year on travel.

According to US-based advocacy group Autism Double-Checked, between 25 million and 35 million people are parents to one or more children with autism, and 87 percent of them currently do not travel or take family vacations. Demand for spaces and rooms specifically adapted to those with sensory needs will rise as diagnoses of neurodivergence grow. Hotels and transit hubs are beginning to appeal more and more to this growing demographic through sensitive design interventions that desensitize or control over stimulating environments.

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ Austockphoto and Bliss.

In-transit inclusivity: Disabled travelers remain a massively underinvested demographic, and they have high spending potential. Airlines and trains are addressing the shortfall with accessible amenities and inclusive design features, from seating to wayfinding.

Inclusive communities and representation

Media

People with disabilities are among the most underinvested in the world, with only 1 percent of advertisements featuring someone with a disability. Yet people with disabilities are 34 percent more likely than the general population to feel there isn't enough inclusion within their identity group in the media and more than half say the portrayals they see inaccurately represent their individual identity groups.

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ AnnaStills.

In order for brands and media companies to accurately represent the complexity of disabled identities - whether in commercial campaigns, gaming, or theatrical releases - they need to include disabled voices as an active part of the creative process. By working with agencies dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as agencies representing disabled talent, they can help drive accurate and intersectional representations of people with disabilities. Unsurprisingly, including accurate and diverse portrayals of disabled people is also great for businesses: For instance, physically impaired consumers are 56 percent more likely to livestream their gameplay and 11 percent more likely to watch live gaming streams than non-disabled individuals, according to GWI.

Workforce

Hiring disabled workers can also be good for the bottom line. Companies championing disability inclusion are on average 2x as likely to outperform peers in total shareholder returns. Hiring people with disabilities makes businesses stronger by offering unique perspectives and valuing lived experiences by tapping into their potential study conducted by Accenture found that organizations prioritizing accessibility had 28 percent higher revenue.

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ fStop.

The global pandemic offered opportunities to disabled remote employees, but there's still stigma around disclosure. Only 23 percent of US job candidates are willing to disclose a disability on an application. Businesses must foster welcoming environments (empathetic and patient managers create a 63 percent jump in employee wellbeing and a 71 percent jump in engagement) and fair wages (disabled people earn less, accumulate less wealth, and experience poverty at more than 2x the rate of non-disabled individuals). Businesses should also reconsider return-to-work policies that force disabled people out of the workplace.

To attract and retain disabled employees, businesses must ensure that they're helping workers feel comfortable. Harvard Business Review reports that 80 percent of C-suite leaders conceal information about their disabilities, which signifies that stigma is still a significant problem. By investing in education and open dialogue in marketing, businesses will be able to reframe societal biases.

Sports and active lifestyles

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ Drobot Dean.

The Paralympics and its paradox

Held in Paris this year, the Paralympic Games are perhaps the most visible and celebrated representation of disability. The broadcast reaches a huge global audience - approximately 4.25 billion people during the Tokyo Games in 2021 - raising awareness and interest in the outstanding sports performance of elite disabled athletes from around the world.

The paradox around the international coverage and excitement, however, is that while the event builds awareness around the lives of disabled people, the celebration of exceptional elite sporting performance by disabled athletes remains distant from the lives and daily experiences of most disabled people. For many, the celebration and perpetuation of "the supercrip narrative" operates as a form of tokenism, and some feel that it positions disabilities as something to "overcome".

In recent years, some companies have begun calling attention to this paradox through campaigns launched during Paralympics, such as "We the 15" Campaigns like this show that disabled Paralympians aren't superhuman, and while the event is a force for good, it takes focus away from the lifestyles of most disabled people.

Community and individual sports

Addressing the challenges that disabled people face in sports involves a truly multifaceted approach and a healthy budget, and it involves individuals, communities, organizations, and policymakers.

To begin with, we need better awareness and understanding of different disabilities within the sports community. This involves educating coaches, athletes, and spectators about the specific needs and capabilities of individuals with disabilities, and it can help fight negative stereotypes and social stigmas placed on disabled people.

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ Prins Productions and Yakobchuk Olena.

We also need to ensure that sports facilities are designed to be accessible to individuals with disabilities. This involves having ramps, elevators, accessible changing rooms, and other accommodations to facilitate easy participation. Even fitness and recreation facilities that say they' are accessible often lack basic accessible features, such as changing rooms, showers, and clear pathways that allow for ease of movement. And truly accessible facilities are often underutilized as, worldwide, people with disabilities can't get to these places because they have limited or no access to public transit services.

In addition, making adaptive equipment and technology resources more widely available and affordable for people with disabilities can help to get more people involved in sports.

Image Credits (clockwise from top right): Anfisa&friends/Stocksy / Adobe Stock; Erin Brant/Stocksy / Adobe Stock; Dima Sikorski/Stocksy / Adobe Stock; Santi Nuñez/Stocksy / Adobe Stock.

Explore the "Disability: Accessibility and Representation" collection on Adobe Stock

"Disability: Accessibility and Representation" This collection presents a wide variety of people with disabilities engaged in daily life, both solo and with family, friends, and colleagues. The collection also includes visuals of people with physical and cognitive disabilities as an integrated part of the workforce in hybrid environments across home, office, small business, and third space environments. Incorporating these visuals in your upcoming projects and campaigns will support authentic and accurate brand messaging.

Adobe's commitment to accessibility and representation

Adobe Design's Product Equity Team has made significant strides creating more equitable digital experiences within Adobe Stock. The team aims to ensure everyone, regardless of human differences, can access and leverage digital products. To achieve this, they developed a comprehensive brief for photographers with keywords to capture the dimensions of human representation, particularly for people with disabilities. This initiative aims to improve data sets and the searchability of photos, aiming for more precise and normalized keywords. The team's work has helped better define some dimensions of human representation, improve captions for generative AI models, and educate contributors and producers on capturing authentic images, paving the way for additional training on equity practices in imagery.

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