The Update: Designing strategically for all

KR LIU: There is always this very famous saying

in the disability community that says,

"Nothing about us without us,”

and I truly believe that.

So, it's a journey we will do together,

and it will take time.

It won't happen overnight.

So, we'll work towards getting better

and being more conscious of

how to be truly inclusive

for disabled people.

CATHERINE: In this episode of The Update,

we have KR Liu with us,

who is Head of Brand Accessibility at Google.

We're going to talk about the importance

of accessibility and intersectionality

for our brands and marketers.

I'm guessing our listeners

out of the gate

may be wondering,

what is a Head of Brand Accessibility?

KR: My role at Google is to help us bring

a disability lens into our products,

our marketing content creation,

and also, mostly important to us,

is our storytelling,

so that people see themselves

in not only the products that we develop,

but that they see themselves

in the content that we create.

CATHERINE: The majority of your career

you’ve really been focused in this

area of accessibility and technology.

I'd love to understand

what brought you to this space.

KR: For me, it’s personal.

I have lived with

severe hearing loss my entire life,

and I grew up in Silicon Valley.

So, I've been surrounded by tech my entire life.

So, I wanted to think about ways

that I could take my life experience

and make product more inclusive

for people with disabilities.

And today,

we still don't see disability represented

that much in the marketing

that we see out there.

In advertising and in film,

disability is represented less than 1%.

CATHERINE: 1%. That's pretty remarkable.

So, we have a lot of work here

to do in this space,

and glad you're focused on it.

Can you tell us a little bit about

what it means

when we look at accessibility and intersectionality?

KR: Absolutely.

Well, when it comes to disability,

no disability is the same, right?

And then no person is the same, right?

So, for me, who I am is I'm a woman

with severe hearing loss

who is also gay.

So, it's important that

when we look at the stories,

we tell in the marketing that we create

that we think about

the intersectional lens

of who our audience is,

who they may represent,

or where they may come from.

And so, for us at Google,

and in Brand Studio where I sit,

we're really thinking about

bringing the community to the table

when we're looking at

different areas of our work.

CATHERINE: Why do you think that

accessibility and intersectionality

are important for brands and marketers

to really think about today?

KR: When you think about

just the number of people

in the world that have a disability,

you're talking about a billion people.

Everyone at some point in their lifetime

will experience disability in some form.

It can be permanent.

It can be temporary; temporary meaning,

you could break your arm.

You could scratch your eye;

you can't wear your contacts

for a couple days.

Or a situational disability.

An example of that is you could be

holding your child in one arm

and a bag of groceries in another,

and you're trying to open

your car door and you can't.

That is actually a situational disability.

So, when you think about that,

accessibility in products or in the world

that we live in and how you

experience can help everyone,

not just someone like myself.

Google has built for decades

that have had an incredible impact in the world,

but they've also been built

by people with disabilities,

and most people don't know that.

Like the internet, email,

text messaging, all created

for people and by people with disabilities,

and everyone in the world now uses them.

CATHERINE: Are there areas in your work in terms

of accessibility and intersectionality

where you've seen the many challenges

of 2020 impact your work,

and any interesting lessons

that are emerging?

KR: With the disability unemployment numbers

now from COVID at 60%,

six – zero,

CATHERINE: Wow!

KR: It’s an opportunity

for companies to look at

the incredible pipeline of talent,

now that we're able to

allow them to work from home potentially,

no matter where they are in the world.

So, if anything,

I think it's done two really wonderful things.

It's actually created more open-mindedness

to creating jobs and opportunities

for disabled people in different areas,

but it's also lifted the lens

of disability representation

in all the beautiful ways

that we show up in the world,

so that more people can see themselves.

I think the first thing I encourage people

to do is talk to the community,

build a relationship with the community,

invite them to the table,

invite them to the conversation,

invite them when you're thinking

about your campaigns or your ideas

of how you want to represent something.

No one better to ask than us, right?