Global Disability Equality Index

Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) are proud to launch the Global Disability Equality Index. The Global DEI came into fruition because many of our current partners expressed a desire to benchmark inclusion efforts around the world, both within their own brand as well as other industries. We are excited to be able to meet that demand, and to invite companies to join this group of global inclusion pioneers.

The Global DEI at a glance:

• The Global DEI is currently half the length of U.S. DEI. Certain sections, like Culture & Leadership, Enterprise-Wide Access and Supplier Diversity have been condensed.
• Does not ask questions that are specific to in-country legal frameworks, like the Americans With Disabilities Act
• Questions will not be weighted. Global DEI participating companies will be named, but scores are not published.

How do companies use the Global DEI?

• Quality control and benchmarking
  • The Global DEI provides an opportunity to see how a company-wide policy is implemented in different countries through a side-by-side, country-by-country comparison.
  • How do legal frameworks affect how company-wide policies are implemented across locations? The Global DEI can identify gaps and help your company go beyond basic compliance to local laws.
• Learn about industry strategies
  • Interested in knowing how competitors approach inclusion? The Global DEI can provide a bird’s eye view of what industry leaders are doing to advance disability inclusion through their hiring and retention efforts, accessibility standards, and increased efforts to create a sense of belonging in the workplace.
• Build a roadmap
  • What are your company’s long-term goals for inclusion, and how can you forge a path forward? An in-depth look at your satellite locations’ approach to inclusion can provide clarity and insight into areas for improvement.

What do we hope to learn?

• Parameters for participation
  • Would dropping the employee requirement further allow for a greater number of countries from the Global South to participate?
  • Should the Global DEI be available in multiple languages?
  • Would it be more helpful for countries to submit regions rather than countries?
• Asking the right questions
  • How do we make this an inclusive tool that is useful for countries from the Global South?
  • How do we account for the differences in disability inclusion progress across regions?
  • What type of questions, asked across a variety of cultural contexts, will yield the most robust data for participating companies?
• A universal disability equality benchmarking tool
  • Would it be possible to combine the U.S. DEI and Global DEI someday to create a tool that is useful to multinational companies and inclusive of countries in the Global South as well?

Timeline for the 2023 Global DEI?

• July 18: Registration opens
• September 5: Questionnaire available to registrants
• December 16: Deadline for submission
• January 30, 2023: Scorecards and analysis sent to participants
• February-March 2023: Deep Dives and report on results

The Global DEI Pilot is still being offered at this time at no charge. All folks who register should use the following passcode to bypass the questionnaire and billing: GDEICompPass22

Questions?

For more information on the Global DEI, please contact Dorothy Garcia, Senior Manager, Global Disability Equality Index, [email protected].

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