Learning articles

In recent years, numerous articles and guidelines have been published on making audio-visual ads accessible across various platforms, including linear TV and online.

One of the core principles of inclusive design is to consider accessibility from the outset. In the case of ads, accessibility should be factored in from the storyboard stage. While audio description is a widely used tool, it requires carefully timed pauses between the voiceover and any critical sound effects, making early planning essential for content as short as 30-45 seconds.

Ads that are audio-led can still be made accessible by embedding key information (product, brand, offers) into the narration and sound design. This approach particularly benefits online platforms, most of which don’t support secondary audio tracks. Without built-in accessibility, viewers who rely on audio description are forced to search for separate versions, leading to a poor user experience.

Co-creation has also been widely discussed but still lacks implementation in many workflows. Including blind and partially sighted people in focus groups and audience testing provides valuable feedback and enhances the overall accessibility of ads.

Remember how you felt (and how you still feel) when you saw that photo of the Berlin Wall coming down? Or the excitement or fear you felt when you first saw that Jaws poster? You can’t remember any of that if you are blind or partially sighted. Unless someone has written an incredible image description. Which, in most cases, they haven’t.

Alt text is a written description of an image posted online. Blind and partially sighted people use screen readers to read that alt text. Yet appallingly, alt text is either really badly written or, in 95% of cases, not written at all.

We partnered with the RNIB and created a campaign using beautifully written descriptions of five iconic images, without showing the images themselves. Why? To show the devastating loss of experience blind and partially sighted people are forced to live with because the sighted don’t bother to write descriptions of the images we put out into the world. Society, and industries such as ours, are excluding blind and partially sighted people from experiencing those images. Which isn’t good enough.

Our outdoor campaign not only captured attention, but thousands of people captured the QR code which revealed information on what to do next time they upload an image.

Virgin Atlantic has launched a new integrated campaign with creative communications agencies Lucky Generals and Tin Man, centred on how the airline is able to support deaf customers.

Created by Channel 4’s in-house creative time 4Creative, the hero 30-second spot shows one of the channel’s familiar BSL interpreters joined on-screen by one of Virgin Atlantic’s own BSL-trained crew.

Inclusive Design Patterns For 2025 with Vitaly Friedman

This industry-first study proves inclusive advertising drives sales. The study was conducted with leading researchers from Saïd Business School at Oxford University, and leveraged proprietary data provided by Unstereotype Alliance members Bayer Consumer Healthcare, Diageo, the Geena Davis Institute, Kantar, Mars Incorporated, Mondelez International and Unilever.