Draft:Josh Loebner

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Josh Loebner Josh Loebner is an American advertising creative and innovation strategist whose work focuses on disability, inclusive design, accessibility, advertising, branding, and marketing. He has held senior roles at Designsensory and Wunderman Thompson and served as global head of inclusive design at VML, a WPP company.

Early life and education

Loebner studied forestry at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, before pursuing graduate study in communications at the university. During his master's studies, he developed an interest in advertising and subsequently worked in the advertising and public-relations industries. Loebner is blind in his left eye and legally blind in his right eye. His experience of disability has informed his professional and academic work on accessibility, disability representation, and inclusive design. He earned a PhD in Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design from Clemson University in 2022. His doctoral research examined the role of disability within the creative process in advertising, particularly how the creative brief can influence the inclusion or exclusion of disability.

Career

After completing his master's degree, Loebner moved to New York, where he worked at Young & Rubicam and Edelman. In 2010, he joined Knoxville-based agency Designsensory, where his work included diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. He subsequently became executive director of inclusion and accessibility at the agency.

During his time at Designsensory, Loebner also operated the Advertising & Disability blog, which examined disability representation and accessibility in advertising and marketing.

In May 2022, Wunderman Thompson appointed Loebner global head of inclusive design. In that role, he led the agency's inclusive experience practice and worked with teams and clients on incorporating inclusive-design principles and accessibility into creative and marketing work.

Following the formation of VML, Loebner continued to serve as global head of inclusive design. His work there included accessibility, disability representation, and inclusive design for advertising and marketing.

Disability, accessibility, and inclusive design Loebner has advocated incorporating accessibility and disability inclusion throughout the creative process rather than treating accessibility solely as a compliance consideration. He has also advocated involving people with disabilities in creative and design processes.

His work has addressed disability representation in advertising, accessibility in creative production, workplace accommodations, and employment opportunities for people with disabilities in the advertising industry. These topics have been covered in advertising and marketing publications including Adweek, Marketing Brew, Raconteur, and Campaign. [1] , and in 2024, Amazon Ads published an interview with Loebner concerning accessible technology, disability representation, and inclusive advertising.

Cannes Lions

Loebner was involved in the marketing of MouthPad^, a tongue-controlled assistive interface developed by Augmental. The device enables users with limited mobility to interact with computers and other digital devices through movements of the tongue. In 2023, MouthPad^ received the Grand Prix in the Innovation Lions category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

In 2024, Loebner served as an Innovation Lions juror at Cannes Lions.

The American Advertising Federation described Loebner as instrumental in accessible marketing when naming him a 2024 Mosaic Champion.

Loebner was involved in the development of Sound Sites, an accessibility initiative created by VML for the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. The project expands conventional image descriptions on Tennessee's tourism website through richer audio descriptions developed with blind users and local songwriters. Fast Company reported that Sound Sites received its 2025 Innovation by Design Award in the accessibility category. The publication described the project as transforming conventional alt text into lyrical narratives intended to provide blind and low-vision travelers with a richer sensory understanding of destinations.

Academic work

Loebner's academic research has focused on advertising, disability studies, accessibility, diversity and inclusion, rhetoric, and information design. His scholarship has examined disability not only as a matter of representation in completed advertising but also as a consideration within the creative process.

His 2022 Clemson University dissertation, Crip Theory and Creative Briefs: Interpreting Disability in the Creative Process, examined how creative briefs can shape disability inclusion or exclusion during the development of advertising and marketing. The dissertation was awarded through Clemson's Department of Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design. Loebner published "Key Concepts in Advertising: Disability" in Advertising & Society Quarterly in 2021. The article examines disability's place in advertising and society, including disability, accessibility, terminology, representation, and accessible advertising. He also authored "Advertising Disability and the Diversity Directive," a chapter in The Routledge Companion to Disability and Media. Loebner's scholarship has subsequently been referenced in academic research concerning disability, advertising, accessibility, and advertising education. His 2021 article is included in subsequent scholarship and teaching materials addressing disability and accessibility in advertising education, while his 2022 article has been cited in later research concerning disability representation in advertising. In 2022, Loebner participated in an American Academy of Advertising special-topics session concerning the teaching of disability, accessibility, and inclusive design in advertising.

Recognition

In 2023, Loebner was included in Adweek's Creative 100, which recognized agency leaders in advertising. Also in 2023, the Wunderman Thompson marketing that supported the launch of MouthPad^ won the Grand Prix in the Innovation Lions category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

In 2025, Loebner was named Change Maker of the Year at the Valuable 500's Nothing Without Us Awards, which recognize disability inclusion in advertising and marketing.

Selected publications

Loebner, Josh. "Key Concepts in Advertising: Disability." Advertising & Society Quarterly, vol. 22, no. 4, 2021. Loebner, Josh. "Advertising Disability and the Diversity Directive." In The Routledge Companion to Disability and Media. Routledge. Loebner, Josh. "Crip Theory and Creative Briefs: Interpreting Disability in the Creative Process." Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, vol. 16, no. 4, 2022, pp. 369–386. Loebner, Josh. Crip Theory and Creative Briefs: Interpreting Disability in the Creative Process. Clemson University, 2022. Loebner, Josh. "Advocating for Better Advertising." Communication Arts.