Upskilling Tips for Disability Awareness Month

By Grace Edwards, Tom Hankin, Misha Manani and Lydia Marshall 

October is dedicated to celebrating Disability Awareness Month. The publishing industry, though still working on better inclusivity, does have methods for promoting the inclusion and equality of disabled employees. Employees across the industry have created disability-specific staff networks that provide support and opportunities to connect and offer suggestions. 

There is also a space for authors in the Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses network, which meets monthly on Zoom to highlight the value of disabled authors, build a sense of community and encourage more characters with disabilities in books. We are sharing useful resources, organisations and tips to celebrate and champion people with disabilities and communities in publishing. 

Helpful Organisations

• Creative Access: They support individuals with disabilities in the creative industries by offering inclusive recruitment, paid placements and mentoring programmes to help them gain experience and advance their careers. They also advocate for workplace adjustments and provide training to employers on fostering a disability-inclusive culture. 

• Publishing Accessibility Action Group (PAAG): They focus on improving accessibility within the publishing industry for readers and professionals with disabilites to ensure that digital and print content is accessible to individuals with disabilities by promoting inclusive practices and standards across the sector. PAAG also advocates for greater representation of voices within publishing, both in the content and the workforce.

• Disability Rights UK: A leading organisation that promotes rights and campaigns for equality and social inclusion for disabled people. They provide advice, information and resources to improve quality of life. They provide peer support networks and mentoring – offering a wide range of training resources to promote disability awareness.

• Scope: One of the UK’s leading disability charities, working to create a fair and equal society for people with disabilities. The charity focuses on equality, access to services and support for people with all types of disabilities. They provide a disability hotline offering free advice, support, job coaching and employment services. They also actively campaign for equality in education, work and public life. 

Useful Resources 

• Inklusion Guide: This is an insightful information pack that explores how to make literature events accessible to people with disabilities and their communities. This applies to in-person, hybrid and remote events. They are sponsored by a range of publishers including HarperCollins, Pan Macmillan and Faber. This is useful for those working in publicity and organising events. 

• Books and disability with BookTrust: A brilliant article that encourages agency and an ownership mentality to ensure that you dissect the meaning of disability, how to represent characters with disabilities in books, the guidelines for inclusive language and considerations for making books accessible in children’s publishing. This is useful for publishers, authors and illustrators. There are also additional resources for teachers, librarians and family members. 

• Disability via The Bookseller: To discover books, industry news, initiatives and campaigns that champion and shine a light on communities with disabilities, this is one of the magazines to read. Do a keyword search by relevance/date. The Bookseller also publishes a Disability Issue every year. 

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with Publishers Association: They collaborate with publishers, literary organisations and the government to support representation and inclusion in publishing. You should read the Inclusivity Action Plan partnered with Creative Access, which outlines the key aims between 2023 and 2026. This is important when considering the diverse demographic that the industry serves.

Top Tips 

• Understand Company Disability Policies: Check accessibility, social impact, diversity and inclusion pages on publishers/literary agencies and publishing organisations' websites. Pan Macmillan’s accessibility statement commits them to the Publishing Accessibility Access Group Charter. You can check who is a signatory on their website. Another way to assess this is by reviewing hiring practices. Are interviews offered in accessible locations? Do they have alternative assessment formats?

• Volunteer or Support a Charity: Volunteer for organisations that help communities with disabilities. If volunteering isn’t an option, consider holding a fundraiser or making a direct donation to non-profits that support disability inclusion. Disability in Publishing in the US has useful links to auctions, virtual meetings and donation pages.

• Be Aware of Different Disabilities: There are physical disabilities, sensory disabilities, intellectual disabilities and mental health conditions. Remember, many disabilities are ‘invisible’. You may not be able to tell simply by looking at or interacting with someone. 

• Join a Disability Employee Network: Many companies now have either an in-house network for their disabled employees or they partner with non-profits. Penguin Random House has partnered with Bookshare to make their books accessible to people with print disabilities. If your company does not, then create your own and celebrate the achievements of the publishing community with disabilities. For example, Handtype Press is a company that showcases the finest literature and art created by signers, deaf and hearing alike.

  
  

Thank you for reading this issue. Join us in the next one, where we will cover Upskilling Tips for New Starters in Publishing.