Asking for a friend: What is accessibility in advertising?

There are 650 million people with disabilities, according to the UN, making them the largest minority in the world. In the U.S, around 20 percent of the country lives with a disability — double the worldwide average.

Jessica Reed, NBCUniversal’s vice president of product marketing and content strategy, has made accessibility for people living with disabilities a key part of her career.

“Representation matters in advertising,” Reed says. “And if you’re not thinking about people with disabilities as part of building inclusive content, then you’re missing a huge component of inclusion.”

In the latest episode of Asking for a friend, Reed discusses what she thinks brands need to do to make accessibility and representation better, how building a culture that’s inclusive benefits everyone, and more.