Disability, Advertising, and Design: An Interview with KR Liu and Christina Mallon

Abstract: KR Liu (Head of Brand Accessibility at Google, Brand Studio) and Christina Mallon (Head of Inclusive Design and Accessibility at Wunderman Thompson Global and Chief Brand Officer of Open Style Lab) talk with Josh Loebner (Director of Strategy at Designsensory and Adweek contributing writer) about disability, advertising, and design. Many topics were covered during their conversation: the importance of community in spreading more respectful messages about and to disabled people; the need to destigmatize disabilities in design, advertising, and marketing; how accessible design can lead to societal change; the potential and limits of human-centered design; the importance of including disability perspectives in preparing creative briefs; the need to include disability in defining diversity; disability-related barriers in advertising and how to overcome them; how advertisers can dispel misunderstandings about disability; and the power of advertising to normalize disability in society.