Inclusive commercial photography is not a casting quota or a last-minute styling choice. It is a way of planning a campaign so people with different bodies, senses, and ways of moving or communicating can appear as full participants in the story. For UAE brands, the strongest brief starts with the idea and audience, then builds in respectful participation, practical access, and channel-ready images from the outset.
The UAE Government uses the term “People of Determination” in its national inclusion policy. This guide applies that context to campaign craft; it is not legal advice, and it does not suggest that a stock image represents an EquiFilms client, campaign, or UAE shoot.
Begin with the campaign idea, not a checklist of identities
Before casting, ask what the campaign needs to communicate and what roles the story contains. If the subject is a professional, customer, athlete, parent, traveller, or community member, write that role clearly. Then ask whether the brief leaves room for people with different abilities to take that role naturally. Inclusion feels credible when a person belongs in the scene for the same reason as everyone else—not because a disability has been used as shorthand for inspiration.
Avoid assigning a person a single symbolic function, such as appearing only in a group portrait or serving as an emblem of overcoming adversity. Give the person an active part in the image: making a choice, speaking with someone, using a product, leading a conversation, or simply occupying the frame without being explained. A good test is to describe the photograph without mentioning disability. If the scene still has a clear purpose, the image is likely carrying more than a token gesture.
Make participation specific, informed and comfortable
A production brief should describe the intended scene and ask participants what would help them take part comfortably. Do not assume a visible mobility aid tells you everything about someone’s preferences, and do not request medical information that the production does not need. Ask about practical requirements in plain language, provide a point of contact, and agree how questions or changes will be handled on the day.
Share wardrobe direction, schedule expectations, the location, and the kinds of actions being photographed before the shoot. Explain how images may be selected and used, using the project’s normal approval and rights process. If a participant wants a support person, interpreter, or another adjustment, record that as a production need and coordinate it without turning it into a story point. The aim is ordinary, professional collaboration, not special treatment that becomes visible in the frame.
Treat access as a location and schedule decision
Accessibility cannot be added through retouching. Check the route from arrival to the set, the usable working area, seating and rest options, washroom access, and whether the planned camera positions leave enough room to move. If the shoot is outside or in a busy venue, consider shade, noise, crowding, distance between setups, and how much waiting the schedule creates. Confirm venue arrangements with the location team rather than relying on a visual inspection alone.
Build these checks into location selection and call planning, not the final day. If a preferred space is not workable, adapt the composition or choose another location instead of asking a participant to tolerate an avoidable barrier. Keep alternatives ready: a seated version of a standing scene, a quieter interview setup, a shorter sequence of setups, or a different route through the location. The campaign can preserve its visual idea while changing the mechanics of how it is made.
Compose the image around the person, not the aid
A wheelchair, cane, hearing device, prosthesis, or communication tool may be part of someone’s everyday life. Do not crop it out automatically, spotlight it for novelty, or reposition it without asking. Decide with the participant and creative team whether the tool is relevant to the frame and how it should appear. The same principle applies to facial expression, eye line, gesture, and interaction: avoid directing a person into a pose that reads as pity, triumph, or dependence unless that is genuinely their own chosen expression and appropriate to the story.
Use camera height, lens choice, and blocking to create a natural relationship among people in the frame. A mobility aid does not require every photograph to be taken from a low angle, and a standing person should not dominate simply because the camera is at standing eye level. Make test frames, review them together where possible, and be willing to adjust the crop. The purpose is not to hide difference; it is to make the image feel considered rather than arranged around a stereotype.
Plan a useful set of images, not a single symbolic hero
A campaign usually needs more than one hero image. Ask for a range: an establishing frame, a closer portrait, a detail that explains the activity, and variations with different negative space for layout. This gives brand and channel teams options without asking one photograph to carry the entire inclusion message. Include people with varied experiences across the image set where the brief genuinely supports it, while avoiding the idea that one person can stand for a whole community.
For brands communicating across Arabic and English, brief any visible copy, signage, interface text, and layout direction early. Review crops for each placement; a social tile, product page, editorial banner, and print panel can tell different stories if the crop removes a person’s action or context. Keep caption language factual and specific. Do not identify a person by disability unless it is relevant, approved by them, and handled with care.
Selection, captions and alt text are part of the shoot
Review selects against the original brief: Does the person have agency? Is the product or service clear? Does the image avoid a pity or “superhuman” trope? Is the accessibility equipment represented naturally? Are there enough options for the planned placements? Invite feedback from participants and relevant reviewers before final selection, and give them a clear channel to flag a concern.
When the image is published, write alt text for its communicative purpose, not as a label or keyword list. The W3C’s guidance distinguishes informative images, whose alternative text should convey essential information, from decorative images, which can use an empty alternative. For example, an informative campaign image might be described as “A colleague in a wheelchair leads a discussion at a table,” if that accurately matches the final image and surrounding page. If the image is decorative and repeats nearby text, a screen reader may not need a second description.
A practical pre-shoot checklist
Write the campaign objective and the role each person plays in the scene.
Invite participants to share access preferences without asking for unnecessary personal or medical detail.
Confirm location access, arrival, working space, rest options and schedule with the venue team.
Share wardrobe, scene actions, usage plans and the project’s approval process in advance.
Plan compositions that include or omit assistive devices only with a clear creative reason and participant input.
Make multiple useful frames and review crops at the actual placements.
Check captions and alt text for accuracy, dignity and relevance.
Keep final image selections, language and use rights aligned with the project’s normal review process.
Where EquiFilms fits
EquiFilms works across film and photography, so a campaign can be considered as a coherent set of still and motion assets rather than disconnected deliverables. That can be useful when the same people, setting, and visual idea need to travel across a brand film, campaign stills, web pages, and social placements. The production brief remains the place to define the story, participation, access needs, approval route, and deliverables.
The UAE Government’s National Policy for Empowering People of Determination describes a broader goal of an inclusive society and sets out public-life, culture, and accessibility pillars. Its National Digital Accessibility Policy addresses digital services and related service providers; it is not a set of advertising-photography rules. For image publishing, the W3C guidance is a practical reference for alternative text. Together, these sources encourage a useful discipline: think about access and representation before the image is made, then make the published image usable and understandable.
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Sources and image note
• UAE Government, National Policy for Empowering People of Determination.
• UAE Government, National Digital Accessibility Policy.
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, Images Tutorial.
• Pexels, photo by Ivan S and Pexels License (commercial reuse is permitted under the license; the pictured people are not EquiFilms clients or campaign participants).