better serve the requirements of all consumers.  How large is the market for accessible products? Mainstream media often neglects to show a true depiction of the disabled population, which can lead some retail businesses to underestimate how wide of a consumer market there is to engage with. The reality is that there is no one example of what a disabled consumer looks like.  The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a person with a disability as an individual who has a physical or mental impairment that significantly limits one or more major life activities. This may refer to partial or full blindness, learning or intellectual disabilities, being hard of hearing or deaf, having a long-term or chronic illness, and so on. An estimated one in four Americans has some form of disability.  Between 2020 and 2021, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that an additional 1.2 million people over the age of 16 were identified as having a disability. This could be due to the rise of long Covid, which has affected over 16 million working-age Americans, according to the US Census Bureau. A 2018 report conducted by AIR, a behavioral and social science research and evaluation organisation, revealed that the total after-tax disposable income for working-age people with disabilities is about $490 billion, with discretionary income of around $21 billion. According to research and advisory firm Coresight Research, the adaptive clothing market is set to reach $54.8 billion this year, up from $47.4 billion in 2019.  What does it mean for a brand to be considered accessible? Like other phrases used in the marketing world like “clean beauty” or “sustainable fashion”, the term “accessible” doesn’t have an exact, standardised meaning, and therefore can be freely thrown around when describing a product.   A product that is considered suitable for a person with visual impairment may not serve the needs of a person with a physical or intellectual disability.  Tiffany Yu, CEO and founder of Diversability, a social enterprise that is working to rebrand disability through the power of community, shared her thoughts on how broad the definition of an “accessible” product is. “The disability community is diverse and the best thing that brands can do to build accessible products is by engaging with us directly and compensating us for our time and expertise. Accessibility looks different for each of us, which is the beauty of inclusive design,” Yu said. “Let’s use the example of purchasing a watch. As someone with an upper extremity disability, what is important for me would be the strap and having an accessible way for me to put it on. That could include an elastic strap. For someone who is blind, they might look for a tactile watch or one that can voice the time.” When it comes to designing for a diverse consumer base, Penny Weber, CEO and founder of The Shapes United, the first Australian adaptive fashion label to be sold at Walmart, said that it’s important to create a product from multiple design angles.  “When we are designing, we work with our blocks and customise them to the different market segments and functional needs of each target market. For our adaptive customers, we look for a range of movement needs, and dexterity issues and create pieces for what would be most useful and desirable for that group. For our texture-based products, we look to minimise any of the clothing features that would create a cognitive overload. It is designing for all of the senses as well as for the aesthetic,” Weber said. For Helya Mohammadian, CEO and founder of the adaptive underwear and loungewear brand Slick Chicks, the importance of creating not only functional but fashionable adaptive wear dawned on her after watching her sister struggle to get dressed following invasive surgery. When she searched for products, she was astonished to find the market full of sterile, medical, and unflattering products. The revelation led her to fill in the white space and design a patented line of adaptive underwear styles.  She believes there are multiple factors the retail industry needs to consider and improve on to become truly accessible to as many people as possible. “Adaptive features, such as adjustable closures, magnetic buttons, and sensory-friendly fabrics, should become commonplace. Another huge step in the right direction would be to make retail spaces more accessible to all customers. This includes physical store layouts that accommodate mobility aids, such as wheelchairs and walkers, as well as sensory-friendly spaces for those with sensory sensitivities. This will enhance the shopping experience for all consumers,” Mohammadian explained.  Retail industry’s accessible future  Creating an accessible shopping experience doesn’t stop at product design. As referenced by Mohammadian, retail brands need to consider what it’s like to shop in bricks-and-mortar stores for those with disabilities.  And most importantly, retail brands need to truly listen to the needs of consumers and consult with disability support and advocacy organisations to fill in any gaps of information about the disabled community that they may not be familiar with or understand. As Rebecca O’Neil, managing director of Gauge, a software and service platform that conducts mobile focus groups and market research, explained, “Hearing directly from consumers is critical. When you do that – when you actually ask consumers what they want from your brand – the first thing you’ll hear is that representation isn’t enough. Including diverse models in advertising and campaigns is important, but today’s consumers want so much more than that. They want evidence that your brand has thought critically about how it can have a meaningful impact within its unique sphere of influence.”