Blog | Ad Accessibility Alliance

Top accessible Christmas ads 2025

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:08:40 +0100

Christmas ads get a lot of attention every year, but one of the most encouraging shifts has been how many brands are finally thinking about accessibility from the start. More ads now come with captions you can read, audio description that explains what’s happening on screen, and clearer visual storytelling that works even if you’re watching on mute. It’s a small change for brands but a big difference for anyone who normally gets left out of these big cultural moments.

An accessible Christmas ad is one that people can follow no matter how they watch. That usually means reliable captions, steady pacing, recognisable visual cues and narration that gives context. Some ads go further with dedicated audio-described versions or built-in descriptive voiceovers. Together, these choices make festive advertising feel more open, more thoughtful and more reflective of the audiences who see it.

Matalan Makes Every Moment Shine This Christmas With "It's Showtime"

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 18:31:07 +0100

This Christmas, Matalan takes centre stage with “It’s Showtime,” a new multi-channel campaign celebrating the joy, pride, and excitement customers feel when preparing for the festive season. After all, Christmas isn’t just any show – it’s the show and Matalan is here to help its customers make it a masterpiece. Developed in collaboration with McCann Manchester, the campaign continues to deliver on Matalan’s everyday style, quality and value showcasing collections across homeware, womenswear, menswear, and kidswear, positioning the retailer as the go-to destination for creating a show-stopping Christmas.

Making TV ads accessible: subtitles

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 13:06:29 +0200

Advertising should be for everyone, but most ads are not fully accessible to the audience they are reaching. Most TV ads are not currently designed with accessibility in mind or don’t have access services like subtitles or audio description to help make them more accessible.

RNID estimates that 1 in 3 adults in the UK are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus. That’s the equivalent of 18 million adults who can’t easily access or understand TV ads.

The easiest way to help make your ad more accessible to this audience is to add subtitles (sometimes called closed captions).

In this deck, find out about subtitle capability on UK TV, and how to easily add subtitles to your ad to maximise your TV campaign's impact.

McCann launches “Alt By Default” initiative ahead of World Sight Day

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 18:26:06 +0100

With 16%* of the global population living with a visual impairment, only 10%** of TV ads worldwide currently include accessibility features. In the UK, the figure is just 1%** – despite more than two million people living with sight loss, a number expected to double by 2050***. To mark World Sight Day, an international event that raises awareness of blindness and visual impairment, McCann’s Alt by Default initiative aims to address this stark imbalance by integrating audio description (AD) into all TV adverts with participating clients and brands wherever possible – setting a new standard for inclusive advertising across the industry.

Why Disability Must Be at the Heart of Inclusive Advertising

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 10:39:41 +0200

There’s no true diversity in advertising without disability. Despite making up 22% of the UK population, disabled people remain vastly underrepresented in marketing campaigns—appearing in just 0.06% of UK ads.

Exploring AI-generated audio description: can emerging technologies help expand access to broadcast media?

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 13:31:39 +0200

As part of our long-standing commitment to improving media accessibility, RNIB commissioned a research study to evaluate the feasibility of using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate audio description (AD) for television content. The aim: to understand whether today’s advanced AI models—particularly those combining video scene analysis and language generation—could help expand AD provision across genres, formats, and platforms.

Paramount and UK Cinemas Advance Accessibility with Widespread Captioned Screenings

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 16:27:23 +0200

A significant initiative led by Paramount is enhancing the cinema experience for audiences who are deaf or have hearing loss across the United Kingdom. The film studio is placing accessibility at the forefront by ensuring the first UK previews for its slate of upcoming blockbusters are captioned.

The move applied to Paramount's major recent releases, including Transformers One, Smile 2, Gladiator II, Sonic The Hedgehog 3, September 5, and Novocaine. This commitment means that the very first opportunity for audiences to see these films was an accessible one.

Major UK cinema chains, including Cineworld, Showcase, and Vue, have thrown their support behind the initiative. Taking the effort a step further, they also committed to providing a captioned screening of the latest Mission: Impossible film every day for the first nine days of its release.

With Not For and VML Centred Accessibility by Embedding Inclusivity at Every Touchpoint

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 16:30:24 +0200

Kelly Gordon, co-founder of With Not For, and VML’s EP, Jamie Gazard, discuss making a spot about communication tech starring a deaf actress that made inclusivity a priority from ideation to production

Channel 4 to mandate captions for all ads in ‘UK broadcasting first’

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 10:16:24 +0200

Channel 4 is believed to be the first UK broadcaster to require all adverts on its channel to come with closed captions for deaf and disabled viewers, when the mandate comes into force from spring 2026.
The commitment was announced on Wednesday, when it opened up entries for the 10th year of its Diversity in Advertising Award.

ISBA Announces Winners of 2025 ISBA President’s Award

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 11:49:58 +0200

The announcement was made at the 2025 ISBA President’s Lunch which this year also celebrates ISBA’s 125 year anniversary.

ISBA president Pete Markey has unveiled the eight winners of the 2025 President’s Awards. The announcement was made at the 2025 ISBA President’s Lunch which this year also celebrates ISBA’s 125 year anniversary.

Each winner was selected due to their support for ISBA and their significant contribution to its key priorities.

One winner was a committed member of the Ad Accessibility Network. Congratulations Amy!

Amy Nicklin, Senior Brand Manager, P&G

Amy is a passionate and vocal advocate for accessible advertising within P&G and the wider industry. Amy has been a committed member of the Ad Accessibility Network and has been a catalyst for real change.