April 11, 2024 | NEWS | By Kole Petersen
This is the third and final of a three-part series discussing the problems associated with and caused by the Disability Equality Index. Part Three shares the impact that the Index has on the disabled community, especially when it comes to trusting the corporate world, and highlights businesses that, while not featured on the Index, are making significant strides in supporting disabled workers.
Over the last two weeks, we have dug deep into the complexities of the job market for disabled people in the United States. In Part One, we explored the historical discrimination faced by disabled people when it comes to gaining employment and the continued struggles they encounter in securing jobs, much less finding companies with good inclusion policies. In Part Two, we learned that the questionnaire of the Disability Equality Index, while intended to be an unbiased measurement of disability inclusion policies, is merely a continuation of the pattern of corporate misrepresentation in pursuit of favorable rankings.
Now, in the final part of this series, I feel that it is important to tie up the loose ends of this story by discussing how the flaws of the Disability Equality Index truly impact the livelihoods and perspectives of the disabled community in interacting with corporate America.
When conducting research for this final part, I was shocked to find that there has been little outspoken negativity against the methodology and precedent of the Disability Equality Index. I was only able to find two examples of individuals criticizing the Index, one of them being a 2022 LinkedIn post by Eric Eggert, an Accessibility Expert at Axess Lab, a company specializing in digital accessibility. In his post, Eric holds many of the same criticisms as I do; mainly, he agrees that so many companies that participate in anti-social and ableist activities receive a score of 100 on the index. While an accurate and fair argument, it is safe to say that this condemnation could use more detailed examples and more discussion about how these ableist companies can continually get away with such a high score because of the structuring of the index itself.
I was able to find one other news article criticizing the activities of Disability:IN, but it primarily focuses on the fact that many companies that have been subject to numerous investigations regarding the poor treatment of disabled workers pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in membership dues to the organization. Again, while this is an alarming observation, there is not a direct accusation that these high membership dues are the reason these companies received their scores of 100, and at least in my investigations, donations do not appear to be the primary reason so many corporations have perfect scores.
The limitations of the questionnaire and the open-ended nature of its questions are the focal point of my criticisms of the Disability Equality Index; as discussed in Part Two, the fact that this Index is not only allowed to exist but also praised by so many organizations is why I fear that the disabled community will only grow increasingly distrustful of the corporate world as a whole.
Most companies report that their workforce includes few disabled people, an average of around 4-7%. However, in the United States, up to 27% of adults have a disability of some kind. This restricted rate of self-identification in the workplace indicates a larger problem related to expressing one’s disability in the corporate world. For centuries, disabled people have been denied the ability to work jobs alongside their neurotypical and able-bodied peers. Even when they do manage to find a job, the harassment, lack of support from higher-ups, and fear of changed relationships with coworkers have caused disabled workers to hide their true identities. This is especially common among those with invisible disabilities, where nearly half of employees with invisible disabilities have not disclosed their disability status to their employers.
Not every disabled person has the luxury of concealing their disability, obviously, but this trend nevertheless highlights the lack of trust that the disabled community has with corporate America. A sense of distrust has been heightened by the absence of honesty and transparency from companies and the American government as a whole. Despite passing the Americans with Disabilities Act over thirty years ago, many disabled Americans still face issues regarding a lack of access to assistive technology, consistent voter suppression, unemployment and much more –– causing disabled people to feel jaded by the system designed to support them. Further, although many companies have preached the values of disability inclusion, in 2024, inclusion has seemed to take on the same role as greenwashing, merely another way to trick the public into thinking that a corporation is more advanced than it really is.
With the consistent praise of the Disability Equality Index, the task of deciding which companies truly value disability inclusion and which view it as a bullet point is made even harder. As (seemingly) genuinely progressive corporations like Southwest Airlines brag about their 100 rating, alongside the abhorrent Nestlé and Goldman Sachs, how are disabled people supposed to tell the difference?
Clearly, the Disability Equality Index falls short in accurately distinguishing companies with genuine disability inclusion policies from those merely filling out a survey correctly. This is exactly why I want to end this series in a positive light by highlighting two businesses that are not featured on the Index but are making significant strides in advancing disability inclusion.
John D’Eri worried constantly about the future of his son, Andrew. Andrew is autistic, and D’Eri knew that the unemployment rate for autistic adults was around 90%. John knew his son could function in the workplace, but there were little to no opportunities for Andrew to work and succeed outside of the school system. So, in 2011, John founded Rising Tide Car Wash in Parkland, Florida not just to employ his son, but also to provide working opportunities for other autistic adults like him.
D’Eri alongside Thomas, his other son, worked tirelessly to uncover the causes behind the abnormally high unemployment rate among autistic people, and they found a wealth of motivated, talented people who rarely get the chance to succeed in this life because they are labeled with a disability seen as a pity rather than a competitive advantage. Over the next few years, they developed a car wash empire that employs 35 people with autism, whose workers prove that the unemployment rate for autistic adults is due to opportunity, not ability. “You might be thinking that we’ve succeeded in spite of our unusual workforce,” John says on the company website, “the truth is that Rising Tide’s success is because of our unique team.”
Three years after the opening of Rising Tide Car Wash, another incredible business for disability inclusion was set to open in Ridgefield, Connecticut. In 2012, Valerie Jensen, a former executive director of an enrichment program for adults with disabilities, came across a vacant building that used to house a movie theater. Frustrated that her friends with disabilities were unable to get jobs, she saw this building as an opportunity. There are a wide variety of jobs that can be worked in a theater, from concessions and hospitality to landscape management. Because of this, Valerie felt that the theater could be a great avenue to provide employment opportunities to disabled people and provide a service to her community. With this motivation, the theater destined for desolation opened as the Prospector Theater in 2014.
Now, this theater is not only allowing disabled people to gain jobs; they are gaining independence. All the employees earn $15 per hour, and 26% of employees work full-time and receive benefits. This has allowed many disabled people to earn their own wages and live independently for the first time — an opportunity that has not gone unappreciated by the employees. Alongside the theater’s efforts to make the moviegoing experience accessible for a wider audience through closed-captioned glasses for the deaf, narrative descriptions through headphones for those with vision issues and sensory-friendly screenings for those on the autism Spectrum; Prospector Theater has become an incredible prospect for disabled workers and moviegoers alike.
As I conclude this series, I can only hope for a brighter future for disabled workers. Although this is one of the (if not the first) full-fledged investigations into the Disability Equality Index and its associated consequences I’ve seen, I believe that if efforts like this are supported, disability inclusion will transform from a tick on a checklist into a flourishing part of the average workplace. If the Disability Equality Index continues to be criticized and the creation of more complete forms of accountability are encouraged, I am optimistic that we will witness a day in our lifetimes when disabled workers are just as valued as everyone else.