All In session – how to implement action 2 – Disability

On 25th November we held the second of our All In Action Plan sessions.

This event focussed upon improving the experience and representation of Disabled talent with our action being to audit and make your company website accessible.

Here are some key takeaways from the session:

Disabled people are very underrepresented within our industry (9% vs 14% of the UK working population). This drops to only 6% at C-suite.

The experience of disabled people in the industry is much more negative than the average – disabled people are twice as likely to experience demeaning behaviour in the workplace and 27% are made to feel uncomfortable in the workplace compared to 12% of non-disabled.

29% of disabled people felt as though their disability hindered their career progression and 22% of disabled people say they want to leave their company with many feeling as though they do not belong.

Find out more by either downloading the full report or watching the event here: Improve the Experience & Representation of Disabled Talent – Advertising Association (adassoc.org.uk)

Mike Alhadeff of AMV BBDO explained how technology is vital to everyday life and career progression

We were talked through some of the daily struggles he experiences within his role and how technology helps with this.

Tech can really help disabled people grow in the industry – it can help with access to the office or even the stress and anxiety of getting the tube. Technology has proven that the industry can be more accessible to disabled people and they don’t have to be in the office 9-5, Monday to Friday. Hopefully, this will increase the number of disabled people and retain them in their jobs as they feel more comfortable with more flexibility and they can set the preferences of the way they work.

Robin Christopherson of AbilityNet set out the overwhelming case for advertising accessibly

The ethical, business and legal reasons were outlined for improving accessibility.

15% of the world’s population is disabled (#WeThe15), and out of this number, 80% of disabled people are of working age, the purple pound is worth over £274 billion a year in the UK. We were taken through how inclusive design benefits us all and given tips on what to consider when re-designing your website.

Huge thanks to all the speakers and attendees, we hope to see you all again soon at the next All In session on 2nd December, focusing on Action 1 – improving the experience and representation of Black talent.