Why companies don't stick to their disability inclusion initiatives
Inclusion of people with disabilities is not only the right thing to do, it makes good business sense. A study by the World Bank found that if barriers to employment for people with disabilities were removed, it could add US$1 trillion, or 1-2 percent, to global GDP by 2030. As the world’s population ages, the potential economic contribution of people with disabilities will only increase. Yet despite the clear business case for inclusion, many companies’ disability inclusion initiatives fall short. One reason for this is that companies often hire the wrong type of consultants and speakers.
The anthem of disabled people has been “Nothing About Us Without Us” for over half of a century - implying that when it comes to how disabled people are included, we need to be a part of that decision and system making process. We know that from a business perspective and market potential it more than makes sense to prioritize disabled people in your business, so why is it that only 4% of companies who prioritize DEI have a specific plan for disability? I believe a big piece of this is companies hire the wrong consultants for the wrong projects, pay them their well deserved premium rates, and then don’t see the ROI they projected. In the end, they can’t get the budget re approved and therefore the inclusion initiatives taper off instead of ramping up.
In order to create truly inclusive workplaces and societies, we need to ensure that people with disabilities are involved in all aspects of decision-making, from policy-making to product development to marketing campaigns. In order to do this - and do this well - let’s look at the different types of disabled consultants you should be hiring for various stages of your inclusion initiatives.
Lived Experience Consultants
Lived experience consultants are just that—people who have personal experience with disability. People with lived experience can offer insights that no academic expert could ever hope to replicate. They know firsthand the challenges and barriers that people with disabilities face on a daily basis. While this gives them a unique perspective, it's important to remember that they may not have the skills or knowledge needed to effect real change. For example, they may not know how to navigate the legal system or how to create a production set for a commercial that is accessible and follows code. Lived experience consultants can be a great resource for companies just starting out on their inclusion journey, but they shouldn't be relied on too heavily.
When to hire this type of consultant: Their insights are invaluable when it comes to understanding the lived disabled experience, and they should be compensated for speaking on panels, offering their lived experience to your ERGs, speaking at awareness events, market research and fit modeling. Hire this consultant only when the lived experience is necessary and no other applicable tactical skills are required.
Accessibility Consultants
Accessibility consultants are experts in making sure that products, services, and environments are accessible to people with disabilities. They often have a background in design or engineering and are familiar with things like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Universal Design principles.
While not all people who work in these spaces have lived experience with disability, they have the skills and knowledge needed to make tangible changes that will improve the lives of people with disabilities. If your goal is to increase accessibility for your employees or customers, be sure to hire accessibility consultants that also have lived experience with disabilities.
When to hire this type of consultant: Rebuilding your website? Launching a product that you hope will make the lives of disabled people easier? Want to rethink the layout of your office or workflows so that it’s more accommodating for those with disabilities? This is exactly who you want on your team. They’ll be able to build you the best product and environment, most efficiently.
Inclusion Consultants
Inclusion consultants focus on creating trust — between employees and employers, between customers and brands, and between marginalized communities and the content that depicts them. They could serve your company by education on anti ableism, appropriate language towards disabled people, disability etiquette and prioritizing intersectionality within your disability inclusion initiatives. If your goal is to create more relationships built on trust with the disability community, an inclusion consultant can help you achieve those objectives.
When to hire this type of consultant: Ready to feature disabled people in your marketing on a regular basis? Want to make sure your ad campaign doesn’t accidentally perpetuate stereotypes, stigmas and tropes that will infuriate disabled people? Need someone to educate your team on disability etiquette? This is your go to consultant for this kind of work. They’ll be able to create a strategic plan that resonates with the disability community and craft a PR strategy surrounding your inclusion initiatives that lands well. (aka, you make a lot of money and impress your boss)
Organizations should use all three types of consultants when developing disability inclusion initiatives in order to get a well-rounded perspective on how to best move forward. Lived experience consultants, accessibility consultants, and inclusion consultants each have something valuable to bring to the table and no one type of consultant should be excluded from the conversation. But they should be included in the appropriate sector of your business based on their combined lived and work experience.
As far as Misfit Media goes, we’re in the Inclusion Consultant bucket with an even further niche into inclusion in media, marketing and entertainment. We’re unapologetic about it. If you come to us with a project focused on making your product more accessible, we’re likely going to refer you out to Open Inclusion. If you come to us asking how you can be more accommodating to your employees who are caretakers for a loved one with a disability, we’re referring you to Joshin. That’s not what we do and we believe that the best thing for disabled people is to hire the best people for every part of your business. Even if that means we lose a project.
What we will do is after you work with those partners, we’ll help you tell the story of why your brand did that. We’ll create amazing content that tells the journey and importance of creating more accessible products. We’ll oversee your PR campaign that speaks about the changes to your HR department to better support caregivers without falling into traps of non-disabled saviorism. We’ll hold your hand as you get pushback from people who are uncomfortable with the fact that your brand is now saying “disabled person” vs “differently abled” and help you respond with kindness and professionalism in your brand voice.
We’re the best in the biz when it comes to providing clients with guidance on anti ableism coaching, best practices for inclusive media, and identifying stereotypes, stigmas and tropes - and rewriting the narrative so your campaigns perform perfectly. We’ll get your content front and center with the disability community and create brand evangelists for decades to come - just don’t ask us whether zippers or snaps are more accessible for your new clothing line.