Yesterday I did a talk about how organisations can embed disability inclusion and accessibility into their organisation. I focused on how it should not just be built into their services but the core of the organisation. And why this is important for serving disabled customers.
Accessibility should be holistic. It should be embedded in every part of an organisation, internal and external, embedded in the culture and working practices. It should be built into how an entire organisation operates.
The case for disability inclusion is stronger than you think
Let’s start with the numbers, because the numbers are usually where influencing leaderships starts.
Disability inclusion benefits your workforce
A U.S. survey found that employers who embraced disability as a component of their talent strategy reported a:
- 90% increase in retention of valued employees
- 72% increase in employee productivity
- 45% increase in workplace safety.
Source: Employing disabled people may solve your talent crisis (entrepreneur.com)
Having disabled employees is essential to developing an inclusive workplace culture. It brings diversity of thought, and often innovation. An accessible workplace also boosts employee morale and job satisfaction. This then reduces turnover and increases productivity. And that saves money.
Disability inclusion benefits your income
An Accenture report from 2023 found that over 5 years, companies that led on key disability inclusion criteria saw:
- 1.6 times more revenue
- 2.6 times more net income
- 2 times more economic profit
(compared to other companies in the Disability Equality Index).
Leaders in disability inclusion are also more likely to outperform industry peers in productivity by 25%.
Source: Accenture, the disability inclusion imperative, 2023
And there’s more. That U.S. survey found:
90% of consumers said they would actively prefer to give their business to companies that hire disabled people.
Disability inclusion benefits your customer reach
Let’s talk about the purple pound. This is the collective spending power of disabled people and their households.
As of 2025, the purple pound is now £446 billion a year to UK businesses. This is up from the previous figure of £274 billion. Globally, it’s $13 trillion.
Disabled people are not a niche audience ‘out there’. We are everywhere. We can be anyone.
Sources:
Purple Pound infographic (we are Purple)
How do we start to embed disability inclusion?
Change attitudes around disability and accessibility. Use the social model of disability to do it. It’s an incredibly useful tool for social change. And it can be used as the foundational framework for attitude and culture shifts in an organisation. Start with the social model. Get colleagues to understand their responsibility to remove barriers. Then build up accessibility skills, training and accountability.
Because every team, every individual, has a responsibility for making their work accessible. Whether that’s:
- a report or policy
- social media post or video
- product page or blog post
- meeting or presentation
- customer services
- and so on
Barriers exist in every part of an organisation. This means we need to build the social model of disability and accessibility into the foundation of businesses. When you do this, you build best practices, processes and cultures that support better accessibility and inclusive design in both internal and external work. This needs:
- social model and accessibility training (at induction and ongoing)
- accessibility champions and allies
- accountable leadership that invests
- inclusive recruitment to hire disabled people and disabled colleague networks
I’m not saying you don’t need accessibility specialisms in specific teams. You absolutely do. But you also need accessibility skills and knowledge embedded across the organisation. Not just with one person or in one team.
Now, I know some of you might be thinking:
“this all sounds wonderful, we’re on board and it’s great in theory, but I can barely get support for basic website compliance.”
I hear you. I’ve worked with a lot of big businesses across various industries. I’m not going to pretend this is easy. It will be long, it will be hard, it will take time. Real change takes time.
But call me a hopeless optimist. I really believe we can create a better society for disabled people. And when we do? 99.9% of the time, it’s better for everyone.
Who reading has struggled to read an overly complex document at work because of brain fog, a headache or migraine? Or struggled to go through an overly complex checkout system? Or panicked at the sight of a countdown timer?
Elise Roy said
“When we design for disability first, we often stumble upon solutions that are not only inclusive but also are often better than when we design for the norm.”
Source: Elise Roy TedTalk
When we build accessible and inclusive services, products and workplaces, it removes barriers for everyone. If you want to learn more, chat with me:
Connect with Elisabeth on LinkedIn
I also deliver training and consultancy for accessibility and disability inclusion. View my services.
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