WEBVTT - Sunday Interview: Caroline Casey On Accessibility Awareness

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<v Speaker 1>Joining us now in studio is Caroline Casey, who is

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<v Speaker 1>a disability activist and the founder of the Valuable five hundred.

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, Thank you so much for your time and

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<v Speaker 1>for being with us on Bloomberg Radio. I suppose first

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<v Speaker 1>of all, I'd just like to introduce the audience to

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<v Speaker 1>what the Valuable five hundred is and what your campaign

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<v Speaker 1>is all about, sort of trying to focus on disability.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, the Valuable five hundred is the world's largest business

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<v Speaker 2>partnership of five hundred organizations and their CEOs working together

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<v Speaker 2>to accelerate global disability inclusion and like we have a

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<v Speaker 2>unified purpose for system change, end of nothing less than

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<v Speaker 2>and today with Global Accessibility Awareness Day, it's really putting

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<v Speaker 2>our energy and force and power behinding ensuring that we

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<v Speaker 2>disrupt the culture of digital and technology product design to

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<v Speaker 2>make sure accessibility and inclusion is a core requirement. Why not?

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<v Speaker 2>Why wouldn't we?

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<v Speaker 3>And you've got big corporates falling over themselves to talk

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<v Speaker 3>about D and I diversity and inclusion. But you say

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<v Speaker 3>that CEO being silent on inclusiveness for people with disabilities.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, so I think we should talk about de I

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<v Speaker 2>and A accessibility right, But what the valuable five hundred

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<v Speaker 2>we began for was to break the CEO silence because

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<v Speaker 2>the CEO's at the top of the organizations, the choices

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<v Speaker 2>they make are going to affect where the investment, where

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<v Speaker 2>the energy and the intention is and without those CEOs

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<v Speaker 2>we can create inclusive business. So we've broken that silence

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<v Speaker 2>and today on our second birthday, on the eighteenth, we

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<v Speaker 2>are announcing our next big move and that is really

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<v Speaker 2>about getting our five hundred companies to start reporting on

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<v Speaker 2>their disability performance, digital accessibility being one of them. And

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<v Speaker 2>can I just say, we're sitting here in the offices

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<v Speaker 2>in London, do you know that of our footy one

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<v Speaker 2>hundred companies, thirty percent of them do not have accessible websites. Seriously,

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<v Speaker 2>why would you stop people with disabilities and their families

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<v Speaker 2>doing business with you?

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, but I think for this and for other campaigns

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<v Speaker 1>around other diversity issues, the problem is in delivering, isn't it.

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<v Speaker 1>And we've been talking a lot about the Confederation of

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<v Speaker 1>British Industry, the biggest lobby group in the UK. They

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<v Speaker 1>are losing members because of a culture of sexual harassment,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, for all the talk and they were leading

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<v Speaker 1>partly that charge in the UK. For all the talk

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<v Speaker 1>about inclusion and diversity and respect within the workplace, you

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<v Speaker 1>know these issues are quite persistent. How do you make

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<v Speaker 1>it more than lip service?

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<v Speaker 3>Oh?

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you. One of the biggest things that for us

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<v Speaker 2>is accountability and we had those five hundred companies have

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<v Speaker 2>to commit to a board level commitment over the last

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<v Speaker 2>two years and we've seen them do that. I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>it is extraordinary to see what has been done. But

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<v Speaker 2>now what we believe is the only way to capture

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<v Speaker 2>and to ensure accountability is to get our companies to

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<v Speaker 2>report on their performance in their annual reports. So we

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<v Speaker 2>will be calling out all are valuable five hundred companies.

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<v Speaker 2>We've identified five key metrics. There are companies that agreed

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<v Speaker 2>on whether it's about an E or G group, whether

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<v Speaker 2>it's about digital accessibility, whether it's about training goals self ID.

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<v Speaker 2>We want you to report because if we don't report it,

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<v Speaker 2>we can't measure it and we can't manage.

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<v Speaker 1>But that is a huge issue, isn't it. It's huge because,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, the government mandated reporting around women's pay in

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<v Speaker 1>the workplace. That is something the UK does. You can't

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<v Speaker 1>do because well, yeah, there's also been a talk about

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<v Speaker 1>doing this for ethnicity as well, but the difficulties around

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<v Speaker 1>that it's quite difficult actually to pin down, isn't it,

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<v Speaker 1>Because it's it's individuals who must come forward and explain

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<v Speaker 1>their disabilities.

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<v Speaker 3>And also Caroline talk about accountability. Not all disabilities are visible.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you think there's still fear for people to disclose

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<v Speaker 3>nerdiversity at work?

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<v Speaker 2>This is the thing. Eighty percent of disability is invisible.

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<v Speaker 2>Twenty percent of our global population lives with neurodiversity, neurodivergence

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<v Speaker 2>or neurodiversity. I have a disability. My disability is invisible.

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<v Speaker 2>You wouldn't know that I am registered blind. I think

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<v Speaker 2>there still is a reticence to speak about your disability

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<v Speaker 2>because it's how it's perceived in the world. If it's

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<v Speaker 2>seen then less than or costly or you know, for us,

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<v Speaker 2>the valuable five hundred is trying to shift that narrative

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<v Speaker 2>to say, look at the value of this one point

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<v Speaker 2>three billion people and the insight and the innovation they

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<v Speaker 2>can bring and the growth because if you think about

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<v Speaker 2>that one point three billion and a mother and a father,

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<v Speaker 2>that's fifty four percent of our global economy. That's thirteen

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<v Speaker 2>trillion spending power. That's value. So if we can see

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<v Speaker 2>people with disabilities adding value, right, if you can see

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<v Speaker 2>those role models, then people will disclose. But we don't

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<v Speaker 2>see it now we are seeing changed, right. Look at

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<v Speaker 2>the front cover of Vogue magazine. Wasn't it brilliant to

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<v Speaker 2>see Selma Blair and Lola Love and Ellie Goldsting and

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<v Speaker 2>Shneid Burke. When we start seeing positive examples of the

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<v Speaker 2>value of people disability in the community, then I think

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<v Speaker 2>people will come forward.

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<v Speaker 3>Caroline, can I ask you, was part of the reason

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<v Speaker 3>that you were inspired to start all this because of

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<v Speaker 3>your own experience?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, the real reason I've been at twenty three years

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<v Speaker 2>an activist. I came out of the disability closet when

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<v Speaker 2>I was working for a management consultancy and I've been

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<v Speaker 2>hiding my disability. Today that we know that seven percent

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<v Speaker 2>of our CEOs are living with the disability and four

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<v Speaker 2>out of five of them are not disclosing it. How

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<v Speaker 2>is that still case twenty years later? I created the

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<v Speaker 2>value of five hundred out of sheer frustration. We need

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<v Speaker 2>to see accelerated change, We need to see system change,

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<v Speaker 2>and it is not possible unless we have business meaningfully

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<v Speaker 2>at the table. Being accountable very important, doing action and

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<v Speaker 2>having the will and intention. And I don't believe it

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<v Speaker 2>can be resolved by one company or one CEO. It

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<v Speaker 2>needs the power of a collective force that can can

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<v Speaker 2>share with each other, fae with each other, learn together.

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<v Speaker 2>But no more excuses.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay? Are there enough skilled jobs people with disabilities? That

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<v Speaker 1>that is a kind of crucial issue in the cost

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<v Speaker 1>of living crisis? We know that that has affected certain

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<v Speaker 1>communities more severely in some senses than others. Are there

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<v Speaker 1>enough well paid skilled jobs for people with disabilities?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, when we even say that, the word disability is

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<v Speaker 2>a tiny word that covers so many vast experiences. And

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<v Speaker 2>as Lizzie was saying, it's neurodiversity, its censor, it's physical,

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<v Speaker 2>it's mental health, it's learning disabilities. There's not one size

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<v Speaker 2>that fits all. Are there jobs? Of course there are jobs.

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<v Speaker 2>If you want to serve a market that has one

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<v Speaker 2>point three billion people who have different needs, how can

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<v Speaker 2>you serve that market and attach yourself to that growth

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<v Speaker 2>and opportunity without bringing that talent into the business And

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<v Speaker 2>today being global accessibility wherein today I just want to

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<v Speaker 2>say we need to bake in design in inclusion in

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<v Speaker 2>the products and services that we are designing today and

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<v Speaker 2>stop leaving disability or inclusion or accessibility as a sort

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<v Speaker 2>of an afterthought. And if we want to grow, and

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<v Speaker 2>if we want to capture the the insight and innovation

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<v Speaker 2>that this community has to have, bring them in, employ them,

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<v Speaker 2>work with them,