Creative Diversity Network (CDN) has teamed with Disability Arts Online (DAO) on a new initiative for the UK TV industry to increase opportunities for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people and people with long term health and mental health conditions working in off-screen and on-screen roles.
CDN’s Doubling Disability project identified accessibility as one of the major barriers to disabled people’s participation in the UK television industry. Employers were often unaware of, or held incorrect perceptions, about how to create more accessible workplaces and what their obligations are under the Equality Act. At the same time, freelancers and staff were also concerned about the impact of raising these issues on their job prospects and were unsure of what support they could draw on to take up roles and develop their careers.
One issue raised frequently was how both employers and workers could use Access to Work (AtW), a Department for Work and Pensions fund which provides grants to remove barriers that deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people and people with long term health and mental health conditions face in undertaking paid work.
CDN has produced three video guides to AtW for the broadcasting industry, aimed at demystifying access support for deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent workers, and helping to create more accessible and inclusive content within the sector.
The three guides are targeted at employers, employees and freelancers/self-employed people in the industry. They cover all the different elements of applying for AtW including eligibility, what you can apply for, the application process and managing an AtW grant. The guides include real-life examples from people in the industry who are already receiving Access to Work.
In accordance with the Equality Act 2010 all employers must make reasonable adjustments in the workplace so that disabled people aren’t ‘substantially disadvantaged’ when doing their jobs. The guides provide practical examples of how people can apply for Access to Work funding for contracts taking place in production offices, on set or location, or any environment an individual may be required or expected to work.
Miranda Wayland, Chief Executive CDN said: “CDN’s Doubling Disability initiative clearly revealed how inaccessible workplaces are a major barrier to inclusion in the UK television industry. Employers are often unaware of what changes they can make and are sometimes concerned about raising the topic because they fear appearing ignorant or that it could open up their business to significant costs at a time of very tight budgets. At the same time, disabled people fear the impact on their job prospects of raising the issue of accessibility. However, both employers and employees can benefit from the DWP’s Access to Work scheme and these guides provide an informative, in-depth resource for both groups, which we hope will contribute towards creating a more inclusive industry.”
Alongside CDN’s work, pan-Broadcaster initiative the TV Access Project (TAP) created an Access to Work workstream to explore finding a short term solution to how the industry interacts with Access to Work as it was felt it was creating a significant barrier to TAP achieving its aim of creating full inclusion for Disabled people by 2030 and preventing the industry from getting more Disabled people into the industry and sustaining meaningful careers.
As part of this workstream, the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV worked together on developing and funding a six-month pilot for Disabled freelancers working on six selected productions. The pilot, delivered by Medigold, provided a fast-tracked process for assessing the access needs of the Disabled people referred, made recommendations to the individual and their production and provided the adjustments and support, when needed, which included helping the Disabled person to make an application to Access to Work.
Sam Tatlow MBE, ITV’s Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion who led the Access to Work pilot project on behalf of TAP commented: “Access to Work, and the support that it provides Disabled people in work, is very often intrinsic to the success of that person’s career. Without the proper support, Disabled people are often not able to develop and maintain meaningful careers. The quick turnaround and short-term contracts in our industry prevents Disabled freelancers from getting the support they need from Access to Work to do their jobs. The pilot we worked on with BBC and Channel 4 hoped to explore a short-term solution to this whilst we wait for the longer-term change to the Government policy. The pilot allowed us to test out the process and explore the experience for both the Disabled person and the production they were working on. The feedback so far has been positive from Disabled people and the productions; with many mentioning the time between referral to assessment and then adjustments and support being in place as the most useful feature. The pilot has now come to an end, and we are assessing the results before recommendations for next steps are announced.”
The videos and more information can be found at Access to Work in TV – Creative Diversity Network
Staff Reporter
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