Hi Disability Advocates!  If you haven’t heard of the Disability Equality Index(DEI), you should know about it. We are here to break it down for you:

What is the DEI?  It stands for the Disability Equality Index, and it’s a survey created by a group of business leaders, policy experts, and disability advocates, known as the DEI Advisory Committee.

Who started the DEI? the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), along with the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN).

What does the DEI do?  It gives giant companies, known as Fortune 100s, what we would call a “self-help” toolbox.  Companies can voluntarily complete the survey as a way to see how well they do in practicing disability inclusion in the workplace and in the community.

What does the DEI look at? There are 4 categories that companies report on:  Culture and Leadership, Enterprise-wide Access, Employment Practices, and Community Engagement and Support Services.

How do they score the DEI? Companies who participate in the survey receive a score, on a scale of 0 to 100, on their disability inclusion policies and practices.

Why do companies participate? Smart companies know that including people with disabilities is part of having a diverse company.  When they participate in the survey, they can take a look at what they do well and what they could improve on.  Then, year after year, they can work on getting better.

What does JJsList.com think about DEI?  We think it’s great! When companies score well, it encourages other companies to do the same and the next thing you know, more and more of those Fortune 100’s are including people with disabilities in every part of business.  HOWEVER, we think the measurements focus a lot on inclusion of people who have physical disabilities and there is lots of room for adding some measures about including people with developmental, intellectual and traumatic brain disabilities.

Our friends at Walgreens scored over 80 points this year.  Congratulations Walgreens!

Abbie Volkmann is the summer Social Media Intern at jjslist.com