Learning articles

This guidance is for staff who use digital images when creating content for BBC News.

Only 17% of Global Advertisements are Inclusive to Visual and Hearing Impaired Audiences

Accessibility in advertising is pivotal to ensuring that all ads have the opportunity to be seen, heard and understood by audiences, irrespective of their physical or cognitive abilities.
With XR at the intersection of creative and media, and responsible for delivering ads to 140 markets in 45 languages, we have an unprecedented view into accessibility adoption and the maturity across markets.

We're interrupting your current Bridgerton rewatch to give you a brand new way that you should watch this season and yes, it is totally making this hotter for fans, especially in *that* scene.

Fans on X (formerly Twitter) have been posting about their new re-watch of Bridgerton and how changing the audio to the audio description option makes some of the scenes so much spicer compared to how they're originally portrayed. It's basically like listening to your favorite romance book or something even hotter.

Sarah is your potential customer.  

She is a vibrant social media influencer who happens to be blind. Sarah loves sharing her daily experiences, tips on living independently, and product reviews with her followers. Despite her active presence on social media, she often feels left out of the conversation when it comes to advertisements. Most ads she encounters are heavily visual, lacking the necessary audio descriptions or alternative text, making it impossible for her to fully engage with the content.

One day, Sarah missed out on a fantastic promotion for her favourite organic cleaning products because the ad was purely visual, with no accompanying description. This wasn’t an isolated incident. From missing out on limited-time food offers to not knowing about the latest hair care products, Sarah’s experience underscores a significant gap in how brands reach their audiences.  Sarah’s story highlights a crucial point: when brands fail to make their advertisements accessible, they exclude potential customers like her.

Touch Card is Mastercard’s new card designed exclusively with blind and low-vision people in mind. It’s changing the way millions of people interact with their daily tasks.