The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) is bringing workplace challenges into focus with a new campaign.
In recognition of National Disability Employment Awareness month, the organization has launched two PSAs that challenge viewers’ preconceived notions about working with people with vision loss. Both spots depict everyday workplace situations—a job interview and helping out a fellow employee—but one of the subjects (not who viewers think) is visually impaired.
“The goal was to address the stigma around blind and visually impaired people [in the workplace], said Daryl Gardiner, associate creative director at DDB Canada in Vancouver, which created the spots. “We wanted to demonstrate that a lot of people have misconceptions and biases, but in a gentle way. It’s more of an ‘a-ha’ moment as opposed to finger-pointing. That’s why we subtly used a misdirect approach in the creative.”
In addition, “it was really important to cast real people who are blind to make it as authentic as possible,” he added.
The ads drive people to a new online resource hub for employers to learn about hiring and creating an inclusive workplace for someone with vision loss, and for employees to learn about finding or maintaining a job after vision loss.
This is the first time the nearly 100-year-old charity has developed a campaign around educating the public and employers about blindness in the workplace. According to the organization, only one third of Canadians with vision loss are employed, and half are struggling to make ends meet on $20,000 a year or less.
“The statistics are shocking… We’re looking at a very stark employment gap,” said Victoria Pearson, senior director, strategic planning and corporate communications at CNIB. “And it really isn’t that blind or partially sighted people are less capable. They are educated and skilled, and with adaptations and advances in technology and mobility training, they can contribute in the workplace on an equal footing with any sighted colleague.”
In a recent survey conducted by Ipsos for CNIB, 70% of Canadians said, when presented with two fully qualified candidates, they would hire a sighted candidate over a blind one.
In addition, one third of Canadians said they don’t know how to interact appropriately with someone who is blind or partially sighted in a workplace setting. Twenty-two per cent think people who are blind need someone to read documents to them on the job, while 30% don’t know if this is true or not (it’s not). And 18% of Canadians wrongly believe an employee who is blind requires someone to lead them around the workplace.
“This is a great opportunity for us to really challenge employers in the Canadian marketplace to think differently, to look past their misconceptions, and to educate themselves about what it is really is to bring a blind or partially sighted person to your team and the contributions they can make,” said Pearson.
The ads air this month across Canada on CBC, CTV and Slice network.
As part of National Disability Employment Awareness month, CNIB is also doing PR efforts across the country supported by social media. The focus is “sharing some stories about the real experiences of Canadians who are blind and partially sighted when it comes to employment,” said Pearson.
