Workplaces and products that are accessible to people with disabilities are good business.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has talked about how his late son’s cerebral palsy shaped his commitment to a workplace and products that are accessible to people with disabilities. Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison has said the challenge of making his elderly father’s home more accessible inspired the creation of the retailer’s Livable Home initiative, a one-stop shop for age-friendly products such as ramps and safety accessories that also support the disability community.
Workplaces and products for all
Leaders who make disability inclusion a priority and commit to measuring their companies’ progress are important allies in the effort to build economies and environments that are open and accessible to the world’s 1.3 billion people with disabilities. Disability:IN, a nonprofit that serves as a resource for business disability inclusion, launched its Disability Equality Index (DEI) in 2015 with the help of an advisory committee that includes business leaders. And more than 170 CEOs have signed a letter crafted by Disability:IN, asking fellow CEOs to pledge their support to make their organizations more inclusive to the disability community.
“When companies are on this journey, publicly holding themselves accountable, being transparent, and utilizing their platform to talk about what they’re doing [to advance disability inclusion], their competitors and their peers are going to be watching, and they’re going to want to know what they’re doing,” says Jill Houghton, Disability:IN’s president and CEO.
