December 3rd arrives, and the social media posts appear. Purple graphics. Inspirational quotes. Stock photos of people in wheelchairs. By December 4th, it’s back to business as usual. This is what performative celebration looks like, and disabled people can spot it immediately.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) offers an opportunity to genuinely engage with disability inclusion. The key word is genuine. An authentic celebration isn’t about one day of visibility. It’s about reflecting on real commitment and taking meaningful action. Here’s what that actually looks like.
Start with an honest assessment
Before posting anything for IDPD, ask yourself: What have we actually done this year? Have you hired disabled employees? Made your website more accessible? Have you implemented the accommodations requested by staff? Have you addressed accessibility barriers in your physical space? Changed procurement policies to prioritize accessible tools?
If the honest answer is “not much,” your IDPD celebration needs to acknowledge that gap, not paper over it with generic positivity. There’s more integrity in saying “We’re beginning our accessibility journey and here’s what we’re committing to” than in posting inspirational content while ignoring actual barriers.
An authentic celebration requires self-awareness. It means recognizing where you’ve succeeded and where you’ve failed. It means being willing to be uncomfortable about the gaps between your values and your actions. That discomfort is useful. It drives change.
Centre disabled voices properly
Many IDPD campaigns feature disabled people as inspiration rather than as experts and advocates. This is the wrong approach. Disabled people aren’t inspiring for existing or overcoming obstacles that shouldn’t exist in the first place. They’re experts on accessibility, inclusion, and disability justice.
If you want to mark IDPD meaningfully, the platform disabled voices talking about what matters to them. That might be accessibility barriers in your industry. It might be employment discrimination. It might be the difference between charity and justice. Let disabled people lead the conversation rather than using them as props for your messaging.
This means paying disabled speakers, consultants, and writers for their expertise. It means not expecting disabled people to educate you for free. It means recognizing that disability expertise is professional knowledge worth compensating, not free emotional labour.
Be thoughtful about which disabled voices you platform. The disability community isn’t monolithic. There are diverse perspectives, experiences, and priorities. Avoid tokenism where you find one disabled person to represent all disability experiences. Seek out multiple voices representing different disabilities, backgrounds, and viewpoints.
Take concrete action
An authentic celebration includes action, not just awareness. What will you actually do differently as a result of IDPD? Consider these options:
- Commit to an accessibility audit of your website or physical space, with a timeline for addressing identified issues. Announce this commitment publicly and report on progress. Accountability matters.
- Review your hiring practices. Are job postings accessible? Do application systems work with assistive technology? Are interview processes flexible enough to accommodate different communication styles and access needs? Make specific improvements and communicate what you’ve changed.
- Examine your procurement policies. Will you require accessibility standards for future software and tool purchases? Will you include disabled people in evaluation processes? Document these policy changes.
- Launch accessibility training for your team. Not generic, check-the-box training, but meaningful education about disability justice, accommodation processes, and practical accessibility implementation. Invest in quality training from disabled-led organizations.
- Donate to disability-led organizations doing advocacy and support work. Many IDPD campaigns stop at awareness. Awareness doesn’t pay bills or change systems. Financial support for disability justice organizations demonstrates a tangible commitment.
Avoid inspiration porn
The term “inspiration porn,” coined by disability activist Stella Young, describes media that presents disabled people as inspirational simply for living their lives or doing ordinary things. IDPD content often falls into this trap.
Avoid posts that frame disability as something to overcome or triumph over. Avoid “despite their disability” language. Avoid presenting disabled people as exceptional for participating in everyday life activities. These narratives are condescending, and they centre non-disabled feelings rather than disabled experiences.
Instead, discuss disability as a normal part of human diversity. Talk about systemic barriers rather than individual limitations. Frame accessibility as removing obstacles, not as helping people overcome them. This shift in language reflects a shift in understanding from a charity model to a justice model of disability.
Address internal culture
If you’re posting about IDPD while maintaining an inaccessible or hostile workplace for disabled employees, that’s a problem. Before celebrating publicly, look internally. Do disabled employees feel safe disclosing their disabilities? Are accommodation requests handled respectfully and efficiently? Is disability discussed openly as part of diversity, or treated as an uncomfortable topic to avoid?
IDPD is an opportunity to engage your team in conversations about accessibility and inclusion. Hold a lunch-and-learn about accessibility in your industry. Invite feedback about internal barriers. Discuss what meaningful inclusion looks like beyond compliance.
This internal work is less visible than social media posts, but it matters more. External celebration without internal commitment is hollow. Your employees know whether your IDPD messaging reflects reality or performance.
Make it about the future, not just the past
IDPD shouldn’t be purely commemorative. It should be forward-looking. What will you do differently in the coming year? What commitments are you making? What barriers will you address?
Frame your IDPD content around concrete future actions. “For IDPD this year, we’re committing to…” carries more weight than generic statements about the importance of inclusion. Specific commitments create accountability. They give you something to report on next year.
This doesn’t mean committing to impossible overnight transformations. Small, specific commitments you actually follow through on are more valuable than grand promises that evaporate by January. Maybe you’re committing to making all internal training materials accessible. Maybe you’re implementing a formal accommodation policy. Maybe you’re hiring an accessibility consultant to audit your systems. Whatever it is, be specific and be serious.
Understand the broader movement
IDPD exists within a broader disability rights and justice movement. Authentic engagement means understanding the history and context. Disability rights weren’t granted generously. They were fought for by disabled activists who demanded equality, not charity.
This history matters because it shapes how disabled people view and respond to IDPD celebrations. Performative posts from organizations that haven’t done the work feel insulting, not inclusive. They suggest that disability matters one day a year for social media engagement, then disappears from consideration.
Engaging with IDPD authentically means recognizing disability justice as an ongoing commitment, not an annual observance. It means understanding that accessibility isn’t a favour to disabled people. It’s a civil right and a baseline requirement for inclusion.
When to stay quiet
Sometimes the most authentic thing to do for IDPD is nothing at all, at least publicly. If you haven’t done accessibility work, if you don’t have disabled employees or meaningful relationships with the disability community, if you have nothing substantive to say or commit to, silence might be more honest than empty performance.
This isn’t about ignoring IDPD. It’s about recognizing that performative celebration without action is worse than nothing. Use IDPD internally as a prompt for reflection and planning. Do the internal work of assessing your accessibility and committing to improvements. When you have something real to say and demonstrate, then speak publicly.
An authentic celebration requires substance. Build that substance first. The celebration will follow naturally when it’s grounded in genuine commitment and action.