From Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything to Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, non-disabled actors playing disabled characters is not only accepted, but often seen as the celebrated peak of their career.

However, the casting of Alec Baldwin as a visually impaired man in the upcoming film Blind has caused outrage among disability campaigners and disabled actors.

The Ruderman Family Foundation, a US-based philanthropic organisation that campaigns for the inclusion of disabled people, called it “disability as a costume” and compared the casting to so-called blackface, where white actors play black characters.

“Alec Baldwin in Blind is just the latest example of treating disability as a costume,” said Jay Ruderman, the president of the foundation.

In the UK, disabled actors account for just 1.2% of those appearing on television, while research by the Ruderman Family Foundation last year found that, in the US, 95% of TV characters with disabilities were played by able-bodied actors.

Another study found that 16% of Oscars for best actor had been awarded to those playing characters with a mental or physical disability. As playwright Christopher Sim, who has a below-the-knee amputation, says: “Pop culture is more interested in disability as a metaphor than in disability as something that happens to real people.”

But there have been signs of progress in recent years, such as the casting of RJ Mitte, who has cerebral palsy, in Breaking Bad, and Liam Bairstow, who has Down’s syndrome, in Coronation Street. The BBC has also made a promise to quadruple the number of disabled actors on screen by the end of this year.

Louise Dyson, the managing director of visABLE, a talent agency for disabled actors, presenters and models, says Baldwin’s casting is “hardly without precedent”, adding: “We are acutely aware that it is entirely about money and getting the film funded. They go for a big name every time and there are no big names who have disabilities. But it’s a catch-22 – until disabled actors are given the boost they need to make them big names, then that’s going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Dyson says the casting norm should be that roles written for disabled people are played by disabled actors.

“We’ve been beating our heads against the wall for a long time, but there’s now a definite acknowledgment of how important it is in terms of visibility and the influence on people’s thinking,” Dyson says. However, she adds that the main obstacle facing disabled actors is getting casting directors to consider them for roles that have not specifically been written as disabled.

“Until we have people in everyday situations doing everyday things, where their everyday disability is not pertinent to it, then we’re not going to be making much progress,” she says.

“In an ideal world, it really wouldn’t matter and everyone would be considered for every role for which they are considered suitable. If you have a character who is portraying anything other than a getaway driver, why can’t they be blind?”

Similar frustrations are expressed by Shannon Murray, 39, who began using a wheelchair after an accident at the age of 14. She appeared in the BBC’s Class, a recent Doctor Who spin-off, and says that in her 20-year career, she has only been invited to two auditions for roles where it was not specified that the character was paraplegic.

“It would be great to go up for roles that my able-bodied peers are going up for, but I know I just wouldn’t even be considered by producers if the writer has not written that role as disabled,” says Murray.

“Unless people have experience of either living with or knowing somebody with a disability, they have quite a stereotyped idea and perception of what living with a disability is, and that it must rule every aspect of your life, every day. But for most of us who are healthy disabled people, it really doesn’t. I don’t spend my days thinking, ‘I’m in a wheelchair’.”

Murray says that with the advent of CGI, body doubles and special effects, the excuse used in casting that the actor needs to be able-bodied for some of the story is proving “increasingly feeble”. She points out that her character in Class was shown walking in two episodes via special effects and a body double.

Richard Lane, a spokesman for the disability charity Scope, criticises the casting of Baldwin in the role and says there is a “massive pool of disabled talent being overlooked. Creative industries should be embracing and celebrating difference and diversity, not ignoring it.”

He adds: “Disabled actors still often face insurmountable barriers to break in to the business. Not only are roles rarely available but castings and locations are often not accessible.”