Best Practices for Advertising

GADIM understands the societal and business constraints of the advertising industry, but there are ways for advertising to include more persons with disabilities. Our first recommendation for best practices in advertising is to read Article 8 of the UN Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

U.S. media and disability scholar Beth Haller, a co-founder of GADIM, says, “people with disabilities use all the same products and services that non-disabled people do, so they should be part of advertising images like everyone else. Advertising represents our capitalistic culture back to us and it should include everyone.”

Hiring Practices

We recommend hiring people with disabilities both in front of and behind the camera when creating ads. GADIM can recommend consultants with disabilities who can advise on campaigns for disability inclusion. GADIM believes all consultants should be paid for their work.

GADIM’s advisory committee member Josh Loebner, who is visually impaired and the Global Head of Inclusive Design at VML, reminds the advertising industry that persons with disabilities represent 15% of the world’s population, 1 billion people. Loebner said that the advertising industry can find disabled models and actors for ads by tapping into online media platforms: “People with disabilities [are] creating content across social media, podcasts, YouTube and other platforms, [and] together elevate disability visibility and voice.”

Content about Disability

Advertising content should represent the full experiences of disabled people and how they interact with the world. Campaigns should avoid perpetuating myths and negative stereotypes about disability. By employing disabled people as consultants (and doing what they recommend), ad campaigns can avoid many negative stereotypes.

Advertising industry content should not objectify disabled people as a way to make audiences feel pity or inspiration. Ads should present disabled people as multi-dimensional, not as a medical diagnosis. Campaign representation should not be unrealistic or tragic, nor should disability be associated with evil in an advertising campaign. The majority of disabled people live regular, happy lives and do not become bitter because of a disability.

Avoiding Ableism

Because nondisabled people control the advertising industry, the majority of content reflects the beliefs of nondisabled people about disability. Every aspect of media contributes to how society perceives disability, including ads.

Catia Malaquias, a co-founder of GADIM and founder of the disability in advertising project Starting With Julius, says, “Advertising should be bold and reflect the world in which we live. With one in five of us living with disability, having a disability is a natural part of the human experience and, like other forms of diversity, it should be represented, not excluded.”

A Note about Diversity

The advertising industry should seek to reflect the diversity across individual experiences of disability, and campaigns should include people with a wide variety of disabilities: people with physical, sensory, cognitive, and intellectual disabilities. People whose disabilities affect their appearance should be included in campaigns, as well as those people whose disabilities are hidden or not apparent.

All media should understand that disability intersects with other factors. People of all genders/sexuality, races/ethnicities, ages, and in all geographic locations experience disability. Too often the advertising industry features images of cisgender white people with disabilities.

Additional Resources for the Advertising Industry

Check out GADIM and Shutterstock’s “Authentic portrayals of people with disabilities”

• 3PlayMedia, Captioning Best Practices for Media and Entertainment
• 76 Perspective-Broadening Stats About Diversity & Inclusion in Marketing for 2026
• Accessiblü, “The Business Case for Accessibility: Loyalty and the Power of Disabled Consumers” (2026)
• Ad Accessibility Network, “Why Disability Must Be at the Heart of Inclusive Advertising” (2025)
• American Marketing Association, “Bridging the Gap: Disability-Inclusive Corporate Social Responsibility as a Catalyst for Equitable Marketing Transformation” (2025)
• Bayes Business School of City St George’s University of London, “Disability inclusion in advertising builds stronger brand affinity” (2026)
• Cardiff University, “How inclusive advertising via disability representation can boost brand loyalty and social impact” (2024)
• Disability:IN, “The Next Growth Market: Inside the $675 Billion Consumer Opportunity”
• Nielsen, “Beyond Disability: Inclusive Marketing in an Intersectional World” (2024)
• Psychology Today, “Disability in Ads: Celebration or Commodification?” (2021)
• UserWay, “Inclusive Marketing: Breaking Down Barriers for People with Disabilities”