The Disability Equality Index is an objective, reflective, forward-thinking, and confidential disability rating tool designed to assist business in advancing inclusion practices. It is a comprehensive benchmark that helps companies build a roadmap of measurable, tangible actions across the following categories: Culture; Leadership; Enterprise-Wide Access; Employment Practices (including the sub-categories of Accommodations, Benefits, Recruitment, and Employment, Education, Retention & Advancement); Community Engagement; Supplier Diversity; and (unweighted) Responsible Procurement.
Participating companies receive a score, on a scale of zero (0) to 100, with those scoring 80 or higher earning the distinction of “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” for the benchmark year. A score of 100 does not represent perfection; it simply indicates that a company has in place many of the policies, practices and programs generally consistent with a disability-inclusive company while still having areas for potential improvement.
The U.S. version of the Disability Equality Index measures a wide range of criteria within the following five (5) categories. A similar scoring framework will be introduced for each of the seven international benchmarks being launched in 2024. Participating companies receive a score, on a scale of zero (0) to 100, with those scoring 80 or higher earning the distinction of “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” for the benchmark year.
| Category | Points (U.S.) | Points (International) |
|---|---|---|
| Culture – Businesses create and demonstrate a visible, sustained cultural commitment to disability inclusion across the enterprise | 20 | 20 |
| Leadership – Businesses possess and demonstrate a strategic commitment to disability inclusion as evidenced by engagement from senior executives | 10 | 10 |
| Enterprise-Wide Access – Businesses demonstrate a commitment to making their digital and physical products, services and environments accessible and useable for people with disabilities | 10 | 15 |
| Benefits – Companies provide employees with benefits offerings that are consistent with disability-inclusive best practices | 10 | 15 |
| Recruitment – Businesses demonstrate policies and practices for talent acquisition that are consistent with advancing disability employment outcomes | 10 | 10 |
| Employment, Education, Retention & Advancement – Businesses demonstrate policies and practices shown to support professional development, retention and advancement for employees with disabilities | 10 | 10 |
| Accommodations – Businesses demonstrate that they have in place the policies and practices that support employees with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations/job adjustments | 10 | 10 |
| Community Engagement – Businesses demonstrate a commitment to understand and support their external constituents with disabilities through philanthropic contributions and corporate communications that are accessible and authentically inclusive | 10 | 10 |
| Supplier Diversity – Businesses demonstrate practices that fully include and utilize Disability-Owned Business Enterprises (DOBEs), including Service-Disabled Veteran DOBEs and Veteran DOBEs. | 10 | Unscored |
| Responsible Procurement – Businesses demonstrate that they prioritize accessibility as part of the vendor management and procurement process when sourcing products and services from third-party suppliers | Unscored | Unscored |