What Strictly Come Dancing can teach marketers about catering for disabled consumers

Over the past few weeks, blind comedian Chris McCausland has captured the imagination of the British public with his success on Strictly Come Dancing. It has brought mainstream attention to some of the specific needs of people who have a disability, so what could the learnings be for marketers? Jonathan Hassell, CEO at digital accessibility specialist Hassell Inclusion, looks at why relying on guidelines will only paint part of the picture.

I must admit, I am not an avid watcher of Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC’s Saturday evening TV fixture that dominates the schedules in the run up to Christmas. However, you would have to be living under a rock to not have known that this year’s show featured its very first blind contestant, the comedian Chris McCausland.

Of course, this is not the first time the programme has included people with disabilities. This year’s cast also includes Tasha Ghouri, who wears a cochlear implant, and Deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis won the show a few years ago. Paralympians have also competed in previous seasons.

That said, there is something about Chris McCausland’s inclusion that has captured the imagination of the British public, mainly as he has no visual reference of the dances he is learning. Each week, his dance partner, Dianne Buswell, describes the style of dance in huge detail before he has even taken a step.

This has been a similar story for other past and present disabled contestants and how they communicate their specific needs to their professional dance partners so they can effectively compete.

This got me thinking about how marketing teams can take inspiration from Strictly, particularly in terms of how they cater for the very individual needs of disabled consumers. And, how they can apply these learnings not just in the physical world, but in the online world too.

There’s more to accessibility than WCAG

When it comes to digital products, many marketers, particularly those whose brands that are heavily reliant on online channels to reach their audiences, will be familiar with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

WCAG is the most understood set of guidelines used by organisations to ensure that websites, apps and other digital comms are accessible for people with disabilities. It’s the yard stick by which the accessibility of digital products is usually measured.

However, while it is brilliant in many areas, there are many elements of accessibility that the current version of WCAG (2.2) doesn’t adequately cover. While there is a new version – WCAG 3.0 – due to be released in the coming years, at present there are areas where marketers need to think outside the WCAG box.

A one-size-fits-all approach to digital accessibility won’t work

Strictly has shone a spotlight on how important it is to listen to people with lived experiences of a disability, rather than just rely on ticking the accessibility boxes outlined in guidelines such as WCAG.

Each consumer is very different, not only in terms of the type of disability they have, but when they acquired it and, most importantly, how they live with it. For example, Chris McCausland fully lost his sight in his early 20s, so his experience will be different to someone who is blind from birth.

In a recent webinar, I talked about how going beyond the limitations of WCAG to take differences like this into account, can benefit your brand. At the end of the day, done properly, getting digital accessibility right means you can outperform your competitors.

In the webinar, I discuss several areas where it pays to look beyond WCAG, but for now, here are two key points to consider:

1. WCAG does not cater for neurodiverse or ageing audiences: The digital needs of autistic people are not represented in WCAG, so it is important to look at it alongside specialist guidelines, such as those we developed for the National Autistic Society.

Similarly, while older people have many needs that are similar to people with disabilities, they tend not to rely on assistive technologies which people with disabilities may learn to use from a young age to help them. Our own research lists some of the frustrations older people have when navigating the digital world. So, again, we would recommend looking at this in conjunction with WCAG to gain a clearer view.

2. Conducting user research is a crucial part of the process: ISO 30071-1, the international standard for becoming mature in digital accessibility, asks an important question – when developing a product, will you include people with disabilities in your user research, or just hope that accessibility guidelines will cover their needs?

While WCAG advises on the general user needs of people with disabilities, you will only get the full picture by talking and listening to people living with a disability, those who are neurodivergent or those with impairments caused by ageing. And when you do this, you can also ask them about the specific product or communication that you’re creating, to see if those insights can help you get ahead of your competition too.

Achieving a perfect 10 for accessibility?

It is important to state that that there is no such thing as a product or campaign that is “100% fully accessible”. There will always be someone whose need isn’t fully understood or supported, so it is about achieving a balancing act between accessibility and creativity.

But, if you are settling down on a Saturday evening to watch Strictly, there is one key lesson to learn – don’t presume all experiences with disability are the same. And, while guidelines are a great place to start, it’s only by listening to people with disabilities in your target audiences that you will uncover more specific needs, and potentially unlock a whole raft of new customers.