1 of 38

Disability Inclusive Marketing: What’s the Playbook?

Elaine KA (she/her)

Sr. Accessibility Program Manager �Amazon Devices

Elodie Fichet, Ph.D. (she/her)

Head of Brand Accessibility�Amazon Devices

2 of 38

Who we are

15

3 of 38

By the end of this session, you will…

  • Understand the importance of disability inclusion in marketing
  • Understand the key elements of a disability inclusive marketing playbook
  • Understand how accessibility and disability inclusive marketing relates to different teams
  • Get tools to know where to start

​

16

4 of 38

Agenda

  1. Introduction: why/who needs a playbook
  2. Getting started: what you need
  3. Defining your core values
  4. Storytelling & Representation best practices
  5. Production best practices
  6. Examples
  7. Recap and Resources
  8. Q&A

​

17

5 of 38

A few notes

  • This talk is a starting point to mindful and respectful marketing communication around accessibility and disability. �You will need to dive deeper on your own. �
  • Language and representation best practices change. �Our insights are representative of current recommendations. �
  • Good judgment and thoughtfulness are great assets.

18

6 of 38

Why do you need a playbook?

19

7 of 38

Why?

​

You are only truly customer obsessed when your customers can see themselves and access in the content you create.

20

8 of 38

Why?

Recent studies have shown that 73% of people without disabilities said it was important that companies are inclusive of people with disabilities in their communications, advertising, and marketing.

That percentage rose to 83% for both caregivers and people with disabilities*.

​

* Studies by Morning Consult, Nielsen and the Institute of Public Relations (Institute of PR – VOYA disability report; page 3)

21

9 of 38

Why?

​

You’re not doing good marketing if you’re missing a large portion of your audience.

22

10 of 38

Why?

​

You owe it to under-represented communities to get it right.

Tokenism and tropes are harmful to the Disability community.

23

11 of 38

Who needs a playbook?

24

12 of 38

A playbook is most useful to…

  • Any organization/company who advertises
  • Specifically, roles related to:
    • Creatives: video, still, animation, direction, etc.�
    • Storytelling: public relations, marketing, communications, executive communications, etc.�
    • Production: casting, direction, set design, etc.

25

13 of 38

What goes into the playbook?

26

14 of 38

What goes into a playbook?

  • Glossary
  • Branding strategy
  • Core values (tenets)
  • Representation best practices
  • Production best practices
    • Pre-prod
    • On set
    • Post-prod
  • Content accessibility guidelines
  • Resources

27

15 of 38

How did we develop our playbook?

  • Based on both quantitative and qualitative data�
  • Included results and insights from the 2022 Amazon A11y campaign�
  • Consulted with people with lived experiences�
  • Tapped into connections to the Disability Community

28

16 of 38

Amazon’s Accessibility Anthem

29

17 of 38

Getting started: what do you need?

30

18 of 38

What you need:

  • Brand strategy
    • Know your customer: Who are you talking to?
    • Have a position: What do you stand for? What do you offer?
    • Identity: What are the brand’s personality traits?
      • Forward-thinking? Empowering? Innovative?�
  • Marketing goals
    • What do you hope to achieve in the end?
    • What do you need to showcase?

​

31

19 of 38

Defining Inclusive Marketing Core Values

32

20 of 38

Core values (for this line of work)

  • “Nothing about us, without us”
  • Always be authentic
  • Do not perpetuate harmful tropes
  • Be clear that disability isn’t “bad”
  • Elevate and prioritize the voice of disabled people
  • Examine social roles – position of authority, parents, etc.

33

Always practice allyship

21 of 38

Storytelling and Representation best practices

34

22 of 38

Storytelling & representation should be…

  • Authentic
  • Balanced and affirmative
  • Focused on active roles rather than passive
  • Inherently intersectional and diverse
  • Solution-oriented
  • Free of tropes

35

23 of 38

Tropes overview

Inspiration Porn��Definition: the portrayal of people with disabilities as inspirational solely or in part on the basis of their disability; society’s tendency to reduce people with disabilities to objects of inspiration.

​

​

36

24 of 38

Tropes overview

Emotional Manipulation

Definition: the concept that content featuring people with disabilities needs to be emotional or tear jerking to be worth watching.

This type of content takes you on an emotional journey where first you feel sad or concerned for a person or PWD, and then relieved, often through a solution proposed by a brand.

​

​

37

25 of 38

Production best practices

38

26 of 38

Before you create (Pre-Production)

  • Diverse casting
  • Accessible situations/sets
  • Think about accessibility in advance
    • E.g. audio descriptions, light sensitivity, cognitive disabilities, etc.

39

27 of 38

Before you create (Pre-Production) – cont’d

  • Are my creative partners committed to accessibility?
  • Have I ensured that both crew and talent can easily access the premises and communicate?
  • Have I consulted with talent or agency to see if someone needs a reasonable accommodation?

​

40

28 of 38

While you create (On Set)

  • Provide disability etiquette training and refresher for everyone on set
  • Ensure framing and composition should promote equality
  • Be mindful of camera angles
  • Create a safe and trusting environment to allow for disabled talent to feel empowered to call out things that are inauthentic

41

29 of 38

After you’ve created (Post-Production)

Music/Voice over

  • Be conscious of your music’s impact on anxiety, PTSD, etc.
  • Watch out for tropes caused by music/voice over
  • Use plain language
  • Use descriptive VO

​

Video accessibility

  • Captions (not subtitles!)
  • Audio Description
  • Transcripts

42

30 of 38

Examples

43

31 of 38

Scripted

44

32 of 38

Non-scripted

45

33 of 38

Amazon Inclusive Photography for Devices

46

34 of 38

Recap

47

35 of 38

Summary

  • Always honor “Nothing about us, without us”
  • Know your customer and your brand
  • Put together guidelines
  • Keep things authentic
  • Prioritize disabled voices
  • Honor intersectionality
  • Create society-nudging content!

48

36 of 38

Resources

49

37 of 38

External resources

50

38 of 38

Thank you!

51