As part of an initiative led by the organisers of the International Day of People with Disabilities, ITV, the BBC, Channel 4, Viacom and Sky have partnered together to launch an event focussed on disability in the media.

All these major broadcasters are coming together to share experiences, challenges and best practice as they work to double disability awareness by 2020. On the 3rd December, a session will be held by these corporations at BBC Salford in the morning and another session will be held in the afternoon at ITV London, which will be open to employees and broadcasters as well as an audience.

During these scheduled sessions, the broadcasters aim to improve their knowledge and confidence around working with disability both on and off-screen. By empowering staff to make positive changes and raising awareness of common barriers to development in the industry, the organisations aim to overcome these and develop ways to improve disability awareness within them.

Last year, the BBC and ITV hosted a similar event called ‘A Visible Me’ that was also held in honour of IDPWD, which bought together on-screen talent, off-screen managers, co-workers and networks who all discussed some of the challenges faced in the workplace, surrounding disability.

This year’s event hopes to build on the success of these discussions and will see all organisations commit to doubling disability across the industry.

Our communication aid funding charity are exceptionally pleased to be raising awareness of the International Day of People with Disabilities and are pleased that other large and influential organisations like the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Viacom and Sky are coming together to do the same.