Why is it so important to increase the representation of disability on TV?

Disability representation on television is increasing, but slowly. And in an ever-expanding programming landscape, it is also increasingly harder to find, and viewers in the disability community are struggling to feel seen, Nielsen noted in its latest report. In the United States, 26% of the adult population lives with a disability, and 1 billion people worldwide are members of the disability community. But as prominent as this community is in the population, it remains largely unseen, or inaccurately depicted, in content that appears on screen, Nielsen assured.

As of September 2022, there were 923.229 total television program titles available to audiences, up 43% since the third quarter of 2019. While the volume of disability-inclusive content has increased over time, progress is slow, especially when compared to the increase in available programming generally. Disability inclusion in video content peaked in 2019, when 518 productions were released featuring disability themes and characters, although this number is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to total content production. As of December 2022, 7.556 video titles included disability thematic attributes, but that represents just 4.1% of the 183.089 total titles with descriptor metadata released during the same period.

Nielsen believes that, with inclusion numbers like these, it is not surprising that 46% of people with disabilities feel their identity group is underrepresented on TV. In fact, disabled people are 34% more likely than the general population to feel they are under-represented on screen, the report revealed.

Of the shows that do feature people with disabilities, such as Netflix's dark comedy "Dead to Me," share of screen remains low and disproportionately favors inclusion of people with non-apparent disabilities compared to people with visible disabilities. Total share of screen for people with disabilities is 8.8%, while people with apparent disabilities make up only 0.4%.

While screen time is low across all platforms, cable stands out as having the highest total disability representation on screen, at 9.5%. This on-screen representation is having an effect on how audiences with disabilities feel about cable: disabled people are 23% more likely to say that cable is the most relevant platform to them, compared to the general population.

Representation for people living with visible disabilities is much lower, dropping to less than 1% across all platforms. This gap in representation presents opportunities for content creators and platforms to champion talent and elevate stories of people with visible disabilities.

“The inclusion of disabled talent does not happen by accident. It is critical to have representation behind the scenes to ensure better and more authentic representation on screen. We need people with disabilities in a position to influence storylines and narratives, help make decisions about casting and talent, and represent the disability community throughout the creative process,”  said Lauren Appelbaum, SVP of Communications and Entertainment & News Media at RespectAbility.

According to Nielsen, the media and entertainment industry has led the charge in advocating for diversity in all forms, and holds the power to raise awareness and drive disability representation. Green-lighting more projects, including more disabled talent on- and off-screen, encouraging self-ID so studios can find talent to ensure authentic depictions are a few steps studios and content creators can take. “In a world where the struggle against inequities and stereotypes persist, media has a responsibility to make disability inclusion a reality,”  the report concluded.