Six actions that will destroy disability/diversity ally credibility

Believe me when I say that for all underrepresented communities, including disability, actions speak WAY louder than words.

Sheri Byrne-Haber, CPACC

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Eight people of different races and genders holding hands up in the air

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Most organizations want to claim they are inclusive.

You don’t find many that proudly shout publicly that they intentionally exclude underrepresented minorities, such as people with disabilities.

Despite this, there are many actions that employees at these same companies take which completely undermine corporate disability inclusion claims. Those ableist, uninclusive employee actions speak much, much louder than the organization’s words.

Not calling out ableism.

You automatically lose your disability ally card if you are present for ableism, but never call it out. In order to do this, allies must be able to accurately identify what is ableist. Some innocuous or positive-sounding statements can be ableist.

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Sheri Byrne-Haber, CPACC
Sheri Byrne-Haber, CPACC

Written by Sheri Byrne-Haber, CPACC

LinkedIn Top Voice for Social Impact 2022. UX Collective Author of the Year 2020. Disability Inclusion SME. Sr Staff Accessibility Architect @ VMware.

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