Disability Pride Month Reflections, Ideas and Results, and Call to Action

In March 2020, nearly 30 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on 7/26/1990, my in-person doctor's appointment transitioned to a virtual visit due to COVID-19. As a health professional myself, it was my first virtual appointment. Despite following the instructions and logging into the telehealth site on time, I struggled to understand my doctor because the platform lacked closed captioning and a chat box. The appointment ended quickly due to inaccessibility issues, leading to delays in labs and prescriptions as we had to communicate via email over the next several days. This experience highlighted how telehealth services and healthcare innovations that are inaccessible can actually add to barriers that already exist for the Disability community, despite their potential to provide safe and rapid essential care in a pandemic.

Today, healthcare remains one of the least accessible spaces for people with disabilities. Enhancing understanding of disabilities among organizations and healthcare professionals is crucial for improving the quality of products and services for everyone.

In the U.S., 1 in 4 people identify as having a disability, representing over 25% of the population with over half a trillion dollars of economic power. Many companies have recognized that accessible products and services not only benefit all users but also enhance their competitive advantage, yielding over 30% higher profit margins (source: Accenture ). This growing awareness highlights the importance of inclusivity, making it essential for organizations to actively engage with and support the disability community.

July is Disability Pride Month, commemorating the passage of ADA and recognizing the experience and contributions of people with disabilities. It's also an ideal time for organizations to reflect on their role in fostering an inclusive environment. How can employee/business resource groups contribute to increasing disability awareness and disability confidence? Here are a few examples to consider, not just for July but as ongoing practices throughout the year:

1. Implement a book raffle and book club: We showcased books by several authors, including Judith Heumann (books: Being Heumann and Rolling Warrior ), Alice Wong (book: Disability Visibility ), and Emily Ladau whose book "Demystifying Disabilities " will be featured in a book club as part of our monthly ERG meetings.

2. Use infographics in office spaces: These visual tools make data easy to understand and engaging. They can highlight health equity challenges and opportunities for people with disabilities, offer tips on inclusive tech/product development, and demonstrate disability inclusion and etiquette. See examples below!

3. Write organization-wide newsletters throughout the year. Topics can be on celebrating the autistic community, incorporating inclusive design, the medical and social models of disability, ADA history, designing accessible meetings, creating a positive end-to-end experience for all stakeholders, and more.

4. Engage senior leaders as sponsors. They can mentor ERG leaders and help drive the ERG's success by aligning its objectives with the organization's broader goals. Their support has been crucial in shaping and achieving our ERG’s objectives (we gained over 10% more membership in a quarter).

5. Present at company townhalls with sponsors and ERG leaders. This platform allows you to celebrate the ERG’s successes, share a positive vision for the future, and engage the broader organization.

6. Support DOBE (disability-owned business enterprise) in organization-wide events, such as books by disabled authors, products from DOBE businesses such as Collettey's Cookies , speakers from the Disability community, and DOBE suppliers .

Ready to champion disability inclusion? Become an ally by embracing and supporting disability inclusion both personally and professionally. Discover how you can make a difference through health equity initiatives and learn from real-world examples (there are many examples! Click on the following hyperlinked terms to learn more: inclusive interviewing , inclusive design and accessible products , designing inclusive health services , leveraging disability as a source of competitive advantage , the clear results of inclusion , and more!) Incorporating disability inclusion and creating accessible processes and touchpoints world will not only enhance your environment but also drive impactful, measurable, and sustainable changes.

All thoughts and comments are welcomed! If you have an experience that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear from you! Please add a comment below.

Infographics below: