Adobe's recent study looked at how digital tools and social media impact the disability community.
In a blog post published on Tuesday, venerable software maker Adobe shared an interview with pro surfer, content creator, and disability advocate Liv Stone. Stone is a disabled person herself: she has limb differences, having been born a congenital above-the-elbow amputee; she has two fingers on each of her hands. A three-time parasurfing world champion and six-time gold medalist, Stone sat down with Adobe to discuss her life’s journey and her illustrious athletic career.
The interview with Stone coincides with a study the San Jose-based company conducted a few months ago, the results of which are being publicly released today. Adobe sought to learn how creators like Stone use digital tools to boost awareness of the disability community and dispel myths about disabled people.
“We recently conducted a study to learn more about how people with disabilities are harnessing social media and creative tools to encourage others and increase inclusion,” Adobe wrote in the post’s lede, attributed to the company’s communications group. “We caught up with Liv to get her thoughts on our findings and also learn more about her incredible journey to where she is.”
Stone has over 200,000 followers on Instagram and nearly a half-million more on TikTok. (Her TikTok has garnered over 7 million likes.) She uses these outlets to share her thoughts on various topics like surfing, skincare, cooking, and more.
“When I share relatable, inspirational content on my social channels, I feel like I am part of something much larger than myself,” Stone said in response to a question from Adobe about the significance of the findings gleaned from their study. “Social media can be a great vehicle to increase awareness and inclusion for people with disabilities and to show that we are more than a label or stereotype.”
Stone echoed her sentiments in a statement provided to me earlier this month.
“It takes a village to create real impact—the more people who understand and see the needs of creators of all abilities, the more inclusive our world can be,” she said in the emailed statement. “This study [from Adobe] shows that everyone can benefit from tools that make social media more accessible. I truly value social platforms and creative tools that help me share my story. I hope more accessible options encourage more people with disabilities to make their voices heard.”
Adobe ran the study last October, querying more than a thousand people across the United States who worked either full- or part-time. Half the respondents identified with some sort of disability, according to the company. Demographically speaking, 50% the people who participated were Millennials, followed by Generation X (24%), Generation Z (19%), and Baby Boomers (6%).
“The goal of our second annual accessibility study was to dive deeper into the way people are using social media and creative tools to increase awareness and representation,” said Andrew Kirkpatrick, who leads Adobe’s accessibility efforts, in a recent exclusive interview with me via email. “The findings highlight the significance of digital tools to help to broaden visibility on this topic. It underscores what we’ve always believed: when everyone has access to creative tools, we all benefit. It was helpful to dig into the research as we continue to look for ways to make accessibility more engrained into our development processes.”
Amongst the findings, 90% of respondents indicated that although social media has undeniably extended the disability community’s reach, many barriers remain in place. Likewise, 84% of people—including 78% of whom don’t have disabilities—said social media has led them to become more aware of disabled people and their needs. Lastly, 81% of people said the disability community “needs more visibility on social media.” Platform-wise, Facebook (50%) and YouTube (46%) are most popular to use; both are trailed by TikTok (41%) and Instagram (38%).
“Social media continues to play a powerful role in how people perceive the world, and digital tools are a crucial piece of this… these results show positive momentum, but we all realize more work needs to be done to encourage more visibility for all,” Kirkpatrick said of the lessons learned from the study.
Feedback, Kirkpatrick said, has been overwhelmingly positive internally, saying “we’ve seen such excitement and support around this topic.” He added Adobe is excited to get the study out in public view and listen to input on the company’s latest discoveries. The study represents yet another step, Kirkpatrick said, in Adobe’s continued partnership with the community to amplify the importance of disability inclusion. “[The study’s results] show positive momentum, but we all realize more work needs to be done to encourage more visibility for all,” he said.
Stone shared news of Adobe’s study on her Instagram and TikTok accounts.
