The Ad Accessibility Alliance has today announced a major milestone in its ambition to make all advertising accessible to all with the launch of a new resource hub.
The site https://adaccessibility.org/. provides resources for anyone in the industry to help them at whatever stage they are on their accessible advertising journey.
The Alliance was originally brought together by P&G and egta (International Trade Body of Multiplatform TV and Audio Businesses) with a number of brands and trade bodies and is now being convened by the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) in the UK and Union des Marques (UDM) in France.
Its mission is to make all ads accessible to all.
The World Federation of Advertisers is a key sponsor and other members include Adtext, Diageo, The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA), The Valuable 500, Clearcast, Google, L’Oreal, Microsoft, Peach, McCann Worldgroup, Omnicom Media Group, the Responsible Marketing Advisory, Sky UK, Thinkbox and XR Extreme Reach. Together they aim to drive awareness to accelerate prioritisation, provide education and training on best practices, as well as improve technology availability and standards.
The case for making advertising accessible is strong. It’s a social and moral imperative, but it is also a business imperative. Accessible advertising will enable businesses to increase their media reach as well as connect with all their customers more effectively.
One in three adults in the UK are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus, which is 18 million people. 18.4m people in Germany, 14.2m people in France and 9.6m people in Spain are deaf or have hearing loss. In the UK a further 2 million people are blind or partially sighted this rises to 8m people in France, 11.5m in Germany and 7.3m in Spain.*
In the UK currently, only 1 in 4 ads on TV is subtitled and less than 1 in 10 has audio description meaning millions of people are being prevented from receiving communications about products, services and opportunities that they may be interested in.
Accessible advertising includes a range of solutions that vary depending on disability and access need and the channel in which the advertising appears. The largest challenges for consuming audiovisual ads include deafness & hearing loss, blindness & partial sight and neurodiversity. Digital and broadcast media are the current channels where the most improvement can be made for the most people. For those with hearing loss for example, it is sometimes as simple as adding captions/subtitles to a piece of content.
The new resource hub is available to anyone and provides best practice examples, guidance and practical steps that advertisers and their agencies and production companies can take to make their advertising accessible.
The Alliance is using the launch as a call to action for everyone within the industry to pledge their efforts to reach a common goal of making all advertising accessible to all.
Taide Guajardo, Chief Brand Officer, P&G Europe, said: “I’m thrilled that the Ad Accessibility Alliance, of which P&G is a proud member, has reached this all-important milestone. Simply put, inclusive design isn’t just a nice to have – it’s essential if we’re to continue to serve the needs of all consumers. Designing for people with disabilities inspires us to continue to raise the bar, creating superior solutions that benefit all consumers. Today’s announcement demonstrates how we, alongside the Ad Accessibility Alliance, are making inclusion the standard across every interaction with our brands. Whether you’re at the beginning of your journey, or have been on the path for a while – I invite you all to take advantage of the resource hub we have launched. It will make a big difference.”
Grainne Wafer, Global Director Beer, Liqueur & Vodka at Diageo, said “At Diageo our purpose is to ‘celebrate life, every day, everywhere’ - we are committed to creating experiences where everyone feels included and can access the products they love. Across our brands, we have been trialling ways to make our marketing campaigns as accessible as possible by integrating alt text, image descriptions, captions and audio descriptions, as well as accessible on-bottle QR codes and new features at our brand homes to welcome visitors who are Neurodivergent. We’re proud to have shared our learnings with ISBA and look forward to continuing to partner with the Accessibility Alliance to drive progress as an industry.”
Phil Smith, Director General, ISBA, said “When so many people have restricted hearing and sight and are used to content either broadcast or online being accessible, it’s imperative that advertising is also delivered to them in a way they can understand. As an industry we should not be comfortable with the status quo and should view accessible advertising as a social and business necessity.
We are grateful for advertisers including P&G and Diageo who have been at the forefront of this initiative and have been a driving force behind industry change.
Jean-Luc Chetrit, Director General, L’Union des marques (UDM) said “In France, 12 million people have a hearing or visual disability. Producing accessible advertising, it’s a social issue, but it is also a strong business opportunity. L'Union des marques is pleased to be part of the global alliance to bring this topic to the next level.”
Sonali Rai, Media, Culture and Immersive Technologies Manager at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), said: "Accessibility in all areas of life and technology makes a huge difference for blind and partially sighted people, including advertising. Having it included is the difference between someone with sight loss being able to enjoy the same content as their sighted peers, and being excluded from what their friends and family are enjoying. As an organisation, RNIB is passionate about making the world a more accessible place for blind and partially sighted people, so that everyone feels welcome when it comes to engaging with advertising."
Teri Devine, Associate Director for Inclusion and Employment at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), said "For the millions of people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus, subtitles and signing are vital services that provide accessibility for video content, including television adverts. Any efforts to improve the awareness of the importance of subtitles and signing in the advertising industry are hugely welcomed by RNID. We hope that it leads to greater provision of accessible adverts for all.”
*Sources RNID, RNIB and Global Burden of Disease Collaboration Network