Charles Catherine, Associate Director of Special Projects at the National Organization on Disability, discusses the NOD’s mission and explains how the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 has personally impacted his life.

“There is still so much work to be done to support and advocate for individuals with disabilities in our country, especially in light of the ongoing pandemic,” said NOD President Carol Glazer. “Disability inclusion is a bipartisan issue that impacts millions of Americans, and we applaud the new Administration for finally bringing issues that are affecting the disability community to the forefront. These types of exclusive priority briefings are only available to our Corporate Leadership Council members.”

Results from the NOD’s benchmarking assessment, the 2020 Disability Employment Tracker, show Council members routinely scoring high marks in all six inclusion categories, including climate & culture, talent sourcing, people practices, workplace & technology and veterans employment. In addition, Council members are showing they improved self-ID rates by 21% since 2018 versus compared to non-Council members who showed an increase of just 0.26% in the same period. Overall, members of NOD’s Corporate Leadership Council have 6% higher self-ID rates than their peers who are not members.

The unexpected shift to the remote workplace and classroom brought on by COVID-19 has left many families across the country with inequitable access to devices and technology infrastructure, a problem known as the digital divide. For students with disabilities, the digital divide is not only an issue of access to broadband and technological devices, but also about ensuring that the technology is inclusive for their needs.

Aiming at making the Tracker an even more effective resource for companies in 2021, NOD partnered with Talmetrix, a national employee feedback, research and insights’ company. By utilizing recent market research, the two organizations created a dynamic benchmarking disability assessment tool that provides companies with the cutting-edge, outcome-based data metrics they need to build a more inclusive workforce which is proven to enhance innovation and increase engagement with employees and customers.