When we use innovation to drive accessibility, we raise the bar on superiority for everyone.”
— Kristine Decker, P&G Chief Equality & Inclusion Officer
That insight was the red thread running through Decker’s remarks during her Plenary Session at the 2025 Disability:IN Global Conference & Expo.
As a leading global event for business disability inclusion, Disability:IN brings together thousands of people from around the world to explore actionable ways to build more inclusive and accessible organizations. This year, we joined partners, industry leaders and changemakers to share our progress, learn from others and reaffirm our commitment to building a #DisabilityConfident culture — none that enables people with disabilities to thrive, sparks new ideas and leads to products and solutions that meet the needs of all consumers.
Accessible innovation not only supports the more than one billion people around the world with visible and invisible disabilities — it improves the everyday experience for everyone. We were proud to return to Disability:IN as a Presenting Sponsor, continuing our long-standing partnership and supporting this year’s theme: Are You IN?
From sharing insights in conference sessions to offering hands-on product demonstrations at our Expo booth, here’s how we showed up at this year’s event.
Bringing Accessible Innovation to Life: P&G’s Expo Booth
P&G’s exhibit booth at the conference Expo gave attendees a hands-on look at how we’re embedding accessibility into our products and services. Designed to be both interactive and informative, the booth featured several inclusive innovations, including:
- Tactile symbols on products from brands like Herbal Essences and Head & Shoulders, helping all consumers, including those who are blind or low-vision, easily identify them by touch.
- Simple, easy-to-open packaging, such as Tide evo and Ariel SECURECLIC, designed to deliver a superior experience for everyone, including those with dexterity, hearing or vision challenges.
- Smart codes on packaging, which help consumers locate and learn about products on the shelf.
- Haptic gloves that simulate the experience of limited dexterity, offering a deeper understanding of the value of accessible packaging.
The booth also created space for meaningful conversation about the role of inclusive design in driving innovation and how our brands are working to better understand and meet the unique needs of people with disabilities. P&G team members connected with attendees, distributed tactile sticker kits for use at home and handed out t-shirts featuring the message: “This is what #DisabilityConfidence looks like.”
Contributing to the Accessibility Conversation
Throughout the conference, P&G leaders contributed to the broader dialogue on disability inclusion — with our employees, through our brands and in the communities where we live and work.
Kristine Decker took the stage to share a few ways we’re using accessible innovation to improve everyday life for all.
- Creating workspaces that work for everyone: We’re piloting Universal Design principles at our offices and manufacturing sites to enable all employees to perform at their best, through features like tactile signage, smoother flooring transitions, quiet focus areas and adaptive furniture. We’ve also integrated tools like subtitles, automatic speech recognition and audio description into many of our software solutions.
- Designing superior, accessible products: When our employees bring their unique perspectives and skills to work, it unlocks innovative solutions that make our products easier and more enjoyable to use. For example, when a P&G scientist shared that her mother struggled to mop due to arthritis, our team of innovators, all with different backgrounds and experiences, combined P&G’s existing cleaning technology with accessible design to develop the Swiffer PowerMop. Its 360-degree swivel head and 3D mop pad don’t just make mopping easier for people with physical disabilities — they make it easier for everyone.
- Reaching consumers in inclusive ways: We use audio description and captioning in many of our ads, and we’re building accessibility into our brands’ websites by avoiding elements that can cause sensory overload and using tools like alternative text, better color contrast and improved screen reader navigation. We’re also widening the screen to tell stories that authentically represent people with disabilities, like Rising Phoenix: A New Revolution, a documentary created in partnership with Harder Than You Think, where over 60% of the production team identifies as having a disability.
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Check it out: P&G’s employee reporter Cher Martin caught up with Kristine after her Plenary Session to talk about why building a #DisabilityConfident culture is important to our business.
Partnering to Build #DisabilityConfidence
Throughout the week, we had the opportunity to listen, learn and exchange ideas during sessions, workshops and meetings — gaining practical tools to support our work toward a #DisabilityConfident culture. But our engagement at the conference is just one part of our partnership with Disability:IN.
Together, we’re helping grow disability inclusion across our business by fostering a culture of belonging where every employee can contribute their unique perspectives to help us better serve our consumers. We were recently named a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” on Disability:IN’s 2025 Disability Index, recognizing our efforts to implement many innovative disability inclusion practices.
It was an incredible and inspiring week full of connection and learning. While we’re excited about the progress we’ve made, we know there’s more to do, and we’re grateful for partners like Disability:IN, who enable us to continue on this journey.
Visit our website to learn more about how P&G is increasing accessibility and inclusion in the communities where we live and work.