Groundbreaking Digital Disability Comms Guide from Channel 4, Bupa & Purple Goat Now Available for Brands and Agencies

Nov. 27, 2025

Channel 4 Sales' highly-anticipated Disability Comms Guide and Playbook, created in partnership with Bupa, Purple Goat and Initiative, is now available for the advertising industry to access. Built off the back off the Paralympic Games legacy, this guide offers practical and up-to-date guidance across TV, digital, and social media, to make advertising more inclusive. 

This follows the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, where the organisations came together to create a resource to encourage the ad industry to enhance the representation of disabled people long after the Games.

This Playbook is packed with actionable advice, best practice tips, and direct links to further learning. It is designed to demystify accessibility, build confidence, and empower brands and marketeers to embed inclusivity at every stage of their campaigns. As well as equipping the industry with proven strategies to ensure authentic and meaningful representation both on and off screen.

In addition, alongside this resource, Purple Goat is offering a comprehensive training programme and in-person workshops for agencies. 

The campaign was conceptualised by Channel 4 Sales’ Partner Labs, a new in-house creative partnerships team built to help brands stand out, developed with Purple Goat, with the deal brokered by media agency, Initiative. 

Sam Hicks, Head of Advertiser Strategy, Channel 4 said: 

“We are proud to be launching the Disability Comms Guide and Playbook, which we hope will evoke lasting change within the industry. Coming together with Bupa, Purple Goat, and Initiative, we encourage agencies and brands to find tips and resources to build confidence and make sure everyone has the tools to make advertising truly representative.”

 

Angelique Waker, Brand & Marketing Effectiveness Director, Bupa said:

“We believe that health is shaped first and foremost by lived experience. Our award-winning Health Is campaign is a testament to how we embed inclusivity into our work and ensure accessibility is at the heart of what we do. This work reaffirmed that showing the everyday realities, ambitions, and challenges of disabled people in their own words, should be instinctive and this handbook builds on that commitment. It offers the industry clear, practical guidance so that representation isn’t left to interpretation, but grounded in accuracy, respect, and cultural relevance. By equipping partners with the right tools, we can shift how disability is depicted and create a more honest and inclusive picture of what health really means. We are delighted to be part of this playbook to both lead and support others in the industry.”

 

Dom Hyams, Global Client Director at Purple Goat said: 

“Since the agency was founded, we’ve seen how powerful the impact of educating, empowering and building confidence around disability inclusion can be for those around us. This playbook builds on the industry leading, progressive conversation that both Channel 4, Bupa and Purple Goat have championed around the Paralympic Games, ensuring that we utilise this platform to create a legacy of genuine societal change.”

 

Will Spence, CEO UK&I, Initiative said: 

“Our award-winning work with Bupa showed that inclusive media has the power to change both behaviour and industry standards. That is why we are proud to facilitate the launch of this Playbook. It gives marketers the clarity, guidance and ambition needed to push the industry forward and make inclusive planning the norm rather than the exception. This Playbook is a decisive step forward for the industry, turning intention into accountable action and setting a new benchmark for what good looks like.”

 

The playbook builds on Channel 4 Sales accessibility initiatives with its commitment that from Spring 2026 all adverts delivered to Channel 4 will mandatorily require closed captions. As well as striving for all creative partnerships to have subtitles as the standard.

 Channel 4 also recognises the power of inclusive advertising via its Diversity in Advertising Award which in its 10 years has repeated the brief ‘Inclusive by Design’ for the second year in a row. Tesco, BBH, and EssenceMediacom were announced last week as the winners of the one million pounds worth of advertising space across Channel 4’s portfolio, and follow Currys’ 2024 Sigh of Relief campaign, which, as of the end of October, generated a sales ROI of 23:1.