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, Community Engagement, Supplier Diversity, and (unweighted) Responsible Procurement. The Index is the leading independent, third-party resource for the annual benchmarking of corporate disability inclusion policies and programs and is trusted by more than 70% of the Fortune 100 and nearly half of the Fortune 500.

Companies that are part of the Fortune 1000 and/or the Fortune Global 500 or law firms among the Am Law 200 are eligible to participate in the Disability Equality Index as are organizations of similar size and scope. Generally, companies featured on comparable in-country lists operating within the Disability Equality Index countries of Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom are also invited to participate.

Other organizations eligible to participate include the following, provided they have 300 or more full-time employees in the countries being benchmarked as of Jan. 1, 2024:

• Private sector (for-profit, non-government) employers that are not owned by a larger incorporated entity
• Businesses owned by a larger incorporated entity must be rated and represented on the Disability Equality Index and its related publications as part of the larger entity. Exceptions to this policy are made on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the Disability Equality Index staff, typically only for those businesses in a temporary restructuring process (e.g., temporarily owned or taken private by a private equity firm before being spun off as an independent entity or sold), or for situations where a subsidiary entity wishes to participate under the condition that the larger entity will participate in a subsequent year.
• Businesses that serve as a subsidiary of a foreign-based multinational business
• Foreign-owned private companies on behalf of their operations in the country being benchmarked

Each of the following countries will be available for registration for a scored benchmark as part of the 2025 Disability Equality Index:

• Brazil
• Canada
• Germany
• India
• Japan
• Philippines
• United Kingdom
• United States

Participating companies can register for one country or up to all eight countries which span the regions of Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and South America. Each country benchmark is independently evaluated and scored and will not impact scoring for other registered countries; if a company registers for three countries, such as the United States, India and Canada, that country will receive three separate scores – one each for the U.S., India and Canada.  

Registration for the 2025 Disability Equality Index is complimentary for current Disability:IN Corporate Partners for all eight of the available country benchmarks. For non-partners, the registration cost is USD $900 which entitles your company to register for one country with an incremental cost of USD $200 for each additional country being registered. The total maximum registration cost for a non-partner is USD $2,300 if registering for all eight available countries as part of the 2025 Disability Equality Index. 

Registration for the 2025 Disability Equality Index can be completed beginning October 8, 2024 from an integrated registration application. This integrated application will allow companies to register for one country only or up to all eight Disability Equality Index countries during the same registration process. This registration system also does not require any codes to register. It should take less than 10 minutes to complete the registration process. The window to complete registration closes on April 11, 2025 when all final benchmark submissions are due.

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.

The Disability Equality Index was originally created as a joint initiative of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the United States’ largest disability rights organization, and Disability:IN, the global business disability inclusion network, to collectively advance the inclusion of people with disabilities. The complementary organizations leveraged unique strengths to make the project relevant and credible to corporations and the disability community.

The benchmark’s initial design and early iterations were informed by the Disability Equality Index Advisory Committee which was a diverse group of business leaders, policy experts, and disability advocates. The framework and methodology for the Disability Equality Index was patterned after the original Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) as both instruments are intended to be confidential, transparent tools to enable corporations to receive an objective score on their self-reported policies and practices.  

Following a pilot with 48 participating U.S. companies in 2014, the Disability Equality Index officially launched as a scored benchmark in 2015 with 80 U.S. companies. Today as the Disability Equality Index enters its second decade in 2025, participation has grown 7x from the tool’s inaugural year to 542 participants in 2024.

A two-year unscored Global Disability Equality Index pilot concluded in 2022. The pilot was limited to select companies and achieved participation from 98 companies spanning 66 countries. Findings from the global pilot informed the launch of a scored benchmark that opened in 2024 to seven new countries in addition to the United States.

The score range for the Disability Equality Index is zero (0) to 100, with 100 being the highest score possible. Scores are in increments of 10.  Top-scoring companies that have a score of 80 or higher are publicly recognized by their company name and score through social media, press releases, listing on the Disability:IN website, at the Disability:IN Global Conference & Expo, and by other methods.

The breakdown of a company’s score is not published.  For example, if a company scores 90, it is only stated that the company scored 90. It is not disclosed in which category the 10 points were not earned. Companies that score below 80 are kept confidential; their score and participation in the Disability Equality Index is not made public. Only authorized company representatives are provided with company information such as scored reports and scorecards. In general, Disability Equality Index results are reported in aggregate, and all company benchmark responses are used to report aggregate results, regardless of the benchmark score.

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. Earning a top rating on the Disability Equality Index has the potential to build brand recognition among current and future employees, investors, and customers – including those with disabilities and their friends and families.

2024 Top-Scoring Companies

Recognition and benefits include:

• Use of 100, 90 or 80 “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” logo
• Listing among “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” on Disability Equality Index website
• Access to template press releases and quotes from Disability:IN leadership to support company messaging campaigns
• Support with digital marketing communications, including a messaging toolkit, sample social media posts and other creative assets
• Recognition at the annual Disability:IN Global Conference & Expo
• Invitation to exclusive networking and recognition events for top-rated companies
• Potential inclusion of company best practice(s) in the annual Disability Equality Index Report and/or other Disability:IN research
• Possible option to participate in proactive media pitches and/or reactive media responses to Disability Equality Index-related topics

A score of 100 does not mean to convey “perfection”. It is recognized there is no single best way to practice inclusion, and that some practices may be more effective for some companies or industries than others. A score of 100 simply means that a company adheres to many of the numerous leading disability inclusion practices featured in the Disability Equality Index, however, there always remains room for improvement.

Each company that completes the Disability Equality Index will receive a custom scored report that details the company’s responses to every Disability Equality Index question. A custom scorecard which highlights performance by category along with insights on areas of strength as well as potential improvement is also included.

Disability:IN also offers customized, company-specific Disability Equality Index Deep Dive presentations. These 60-minute virtual sessions allow for a Disability:IN team member to provide analysis, insights, and recommendations related to your company’s Disability Equality Index results. The presentation examines your company’s responses to the benchmark questions and compares your results to the aggregate performance of all participating companies as well as industry-specific insights. Deep Dive presentations can be scheduled using Disability:IN’s Engagement Request Form and are available as a complimentary partnership benefit for companies at the Influencer, Presenting and Headliner levels as well as for Inclusion Works companies or at an additional cost for non-partners or companies at the Connecter, Collaborator or Thought Leader levels. Please contact Mackenzie Ward, Director of Corporate Relations, at [email protected] with questions about partnerships and pricing.

A number of other tools exist, however the Disability Equality Index is unique in its comprehensive nature. It is the only benchmark that takes a holistic and in-depth look at policies and practices spanning corporate operations, including culture; leadership; enterprise-wide accessibility; benefits; accommodations; recruitment; education, retention and advancement; community engagement; supplier diversity; and responsible procurement. Because of this the Disability Equality Index typically takes 30-40 hours to complete and requires input and coordination from stakeholders across the organization. Other disability trackers take just a few hours to complete and as a result often do not provide the same level of analysis and insight.

The Disability Equality Index also brings together a unique community of practice from the nearly 550 participating companies that are all collectively committed to advancing disability inclusion. This trusted network operates with confidentiality and transparency in sharing best practices and failures with one another in an effort to advance disability inclusion across society.