We have a collective of 500 CEOs and their companies, working together to drive system change across six key pillars: C-Suite, Culture, Customer, Reporting, Representation and Research.
To celebrate the first anniversary of the Valuable 500, we wanted to highlight some of the most significant actions from our companies across these pillars.
We love seeing our Valuable companies take action for disability inclusion, because if not now, when?
Representation.
There is a lack of content in the media that authentically represents people with disabilities, both in front of and behind the camera. Did you know that less than 1% of prime time advertising currently features people with disabilities? ¹
Here are our favourite #DisabilityRepresentation moments from Valuable 500 companies in the last year:
- ITV launched a new campaign in 2021 to raise awareness about invisible disabilities.
- Apple’s “CODA” won historic Oscar for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
- Mastercard designed an advert with audio description for people with visual impairments.
- Burberry increased representation in the media and fashion industry by including a model with a prosthetic leg.
- Degree, the subsidiary of Valuable company Unilever, launched an inclusive marathon in the metaverse, including people with disabilities for the first time ever.
- Channel 4 announced a 100% disabled presenting team for the Winter Paralympics.
- BBC released ‘Then Barbara Met Alan’: a British TV film featuring disability rights activists Barbara Lisicki and Alan Holdsworth, the founding members of the Disabled Peoples Direct Action Network (DAN). Both Barbara and Alan played a powerful role in fighting for the rights of people with disabilities.
¹ Source: Center for Disease Control and Nielsen Ad Intel, Primetime Ads, February 2021
Culture.
People with disabilities are employed at half the rate of the general population, while many companies report challenges around recruiting and retention of disabled workers or are not sure where to begin their journey toward a truly inclusive workforce.
In addition to this, there is a severe lack of data on employees with disabilities.
Here’s how our Valuable companies have been creating #InclusiveCultures in the last year:
- EY opened their first Neuro-Diverse Centre of Excellence (NCoE) in Manchester to drive greater diversity and inclusion in the UK workplace.
- Verizon launched a Disability Advisory Board and pledged to up-skill the next generation of innovators.
- Channel 4, BBC, and ITV were among the first UK broadcasters to create access and inclusion passports removing barriers and supporting better inclusion of disabled people.
- Google launched the Belonging.google website, building a more inclusive workplace for people with disabilities.
- Channel 4 appointed a new Head of Inclusion and created a brand new Disability role.
- Deloitte celebrated the accomplishments of people with disabilities through its ‘Can You See Me’ video series.
- Salesforce hired a Product Accessibility Leader.
Customer.
There are ongoing customer experience barriers for people with disabilities and companies often lack knowledge on how to make their products and services more accessible. Did you know that only 5% of businesses are focused on making their offerings inclusive of people with disabilities? ²
Here’s how our Valuable companies are breaking down the barriers that exist for disabled customers:
- Tommy Hilfiger launched an adaptive line collection, which aimed to make dressing easier for adults and children with disabilities.
- Google brought speech to people living with ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) through their ‘Look to Speak’ app.
- Kmart introduced an inclusive doll range.
- Standard Chartered launched a sign language service for hearing impaired.
- Microsoft improved virtual meetings for people with disabilities by introducing new Windows features.
- Procter & Gamble’s skincare brand Olay developed an easy-open moisturiser lid for people with limited mobility.
- Airbnb offered experiences and stays with ‘Accessiblity In Mind.’
- Apple introduced ‘SignTime’ service that connects customers with sign language interpreters.
²Source: Return on Disability Report
C-Suite.
For too long, there has been C-Suite silence on the topic of disability. We will use the power of stories to open up the conversation, and build a global community of next generation leaders with lived experience of disability.
Here’s how our Valuable companies are breaking the C-Suite silence on disability:
- Valuable company leader Richard Branson praised LinkedIn for adding ‘Dyslexic Thinking’ to their skills list.
- PageGroup CEO Steve Ingham is breaking down the disability silence by encouraging other CEOs to talk about their disabilities.
- Unilever CEO Alan Jope recently signed the International Labour Organization’s Global Business and Disability Network Charter.
- EY CEO Carmine Di Sibio raised awareness of disability inclusion with our founder Caroline Casey.
- Director General of the GSMA Mats Granryd discussed digital inclusion for people with disabilities with our founder Caroline Casey.
- VMWare joined the Valuable 500 by announcing the commitment with a video from their CEO Rangarajan Raghuram.
- Caroline Casey and Orange CEO Stéphane Richard discussed disability inclusion in the business world.
Research.
People with disabilities want to share their experience with our companies, both good and bad.
Here’s how our Valuable companies are listening:
- Olay introduced an easy-open moisturiser lid for people with limited mobility after receiving feedback from customers about how difficult the lids are to open.
- Sky ran a research project to understand how people with disabilities watch content.
- European Space Agency (ESA) launched the parastronaut feasibility project to examine the conditions for including astronauts with disabilities to work in space.
- Nielsen released research on representation, and lack of representation of people with disabilities in media.
- Microsoft expanded accessibility in their technology, workforce and workplace.
Reporting.
Disability data is routinely excluded from annual reports and global indices so we want to encourage more public disclosure of corporate disability data.
Here’s how our Valuable companies are reporting and gathering data on disability:
- Accenture undertook a survey of 30,000 disabled employees to understand their feeling of safety, trust, and needs in the workplace.
- Refinitiv included a question that measures the percentage of employees with disabilities, which far too often is not included within ESG employee data.
- GSMA’s Mobile Disability Gap Report.
