What is the Disability Equality Index (DEI)?

There are over one billion people across the world that report having at least one type of disability, and 75% of those disabilities are invisible. The DEI’s goal is to create "a national, transparent, annual benchmarking tool that offers businesses an opportunity to receive an objective score" on their disability inclusion policies and practices.

What is the Disability Equality Index?

The Disability Equality Index (DEI) serves as a tool for companies to ultimately achieve disability inclusion and equality and serves as the U.S.’s most comprehensive annual benchmarking tool for corporations.

"The DEI helps companies measure their own progress on disability inclusion and challenges them to improve their policies and practices – not just because it's the right thing to do, but also because it's also good for business," says Ted Kennedy, Jr., a disability rights attorney and board chair of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). "Research shows that companies that champion disability inclusion significantly outperform their peers across key financial indices including revenue, net income, profit margins, and shareholder returns."

Each company receives a score on a scale of 0 to 100. Companies that earn 80 and above are recognized as “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion.” Names of companies that score less than 80 on the DEI are kept confidential.

Since piloting the DEI, there has been a profound increase in participation and an ever-growing need for the DEI to advance disability inclusion across businesses.

Companies leading in disability inclusion perform better

Research from Accenture shows that businesses that lead in areas specific to disability employment and inclusion have been found to have 28% higher revenue, double the net income, and 30% higher profit margins than their counterparts. U.S. GDP could also gain an estimate of $25 billion if more persons with disabilities joined the labor force.

There are tremendous disparities when it comes to applicants with disabilities. Only about 29% of working-age individuals with disabilities in the U.S. participate in the workforce, compared with 75% of the non-disabled working-age population. Disability:IN CEO Jill Houghton argues that "disability inclusion at work isn’t just about achieving greater accessibility or recruiting more employees with disabilities, but about creating workplaces where employees feel free to live authentically."

Industry leaders that have participated in the DEI program have noted increased profit and report the program as being valuable and rewarding. More importantly, organizations that develop robust DEI initiatives are more inclusive and incorporate people with disabilities into the decision-making process. 

How is the DEI scored?

The DEI is scored on a range of criteria within six categories for a total of 100 points:

1. Culture & Leadership (30 points) – Businesses commit to and demonstrate a sustained, visible cultural commitment to disability inclusion and demonstrate visible leadership commitment to disability inclusion throughout the organization.
2. Enterprise-Wide Access (10 points) – Businesses commit to and demonstrate commitment to workplace accessibility.
3. Employment Practices (40 points) – Businesses commit to and demonstrate commitment to benefits, recruitment practices, employment practices, and accommodation practices that fully incorporate and include individuals with disabilities.
4. Community Engagement (10 points) – Businesses demonstrate public-facing engagement practices that celebrate and support individuals with disabilities.
5. Supplier Diversity (10 points) – Businesses commit to and demonstrate supplier diversity practices that fully include and utilize disability-owned, veteran–disability-owned businesses, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.
6. Non-U.S. Operations (0 points) – Businesses commit to and demonstrate non-U.S. practices that fully incorporate and include individuals with disabilities.

Disability advocates have modernized the DEI by clarifying weighted questions and adding new non-weighted questions.

Benefits for participation

Companies reap tremendous benefits from participating in the program. Organizations with top DEI scores can gain brand equity, are fitted with a DEI "Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion" logo, are incorporated into press releases and digital marketing, recognized at conferences, and may have the opportunity to share best practices identified throughout the implementation in the DEI Best Practices Report.  

Houghton said it best: “When talent with disability is included and welcomed, productivity increases, teams excel, and you’re ultimately going to develop more innovative and accessible products and services.”

Companies can register for the DEI here.