WORLD INSTITUTE ON DISABILITY

The World Institute on Disability (WID) is dedicated to designing, building, and supporting community solutions by removing barriers to include people with disabilities.

We accomplish our mission by:

-Helping to assure that products, services, and environments are more accessible
-Promoting and advocating for equitable policies to impact meaningful change
-Providing consulting services to partners, organizations, and corporations aiming to improve their disability inclusion practices
-Offering training and tools to better serve individuals and groups with disabilities
-Supporting emergency, disaster, and climate efforts to intervene with systemic exclusion, by inviting DLO support

Strategic, operational, and employee measures are aligned with the mission and goals outlined in WID’s Strategic Plan, and in accordance with general objectives. Our core work is aligned within three strategic areas of focus:

Accessibility Solutions and Universal Design:
WID values the lived experiences of people with disabilities as part of our global mission to prioritize making products, services, and environments accessible. Our strategies for strengthening universal accessibility are rooted in policy, guidelines, and ethical decision making which aim to improve inclusion by studying user-testing experiences, leading targeted focus groups, conducting and reporting on valuable assessments and surveys, providing training and advisory consultations, and other services which center on the disability perspective. Led by SME Kat Zigmont, WID’s work within this focus area has resulted in refined organizational systems, built environments, policies, products, and services to better serve people with disabilities by creating more accessible and inclusive experiences.

Community Inclusion:
WID works to eliminate barriers to achieving full inclusion of people with disabilities by influencing systems, policies, and tools that aim for whole community participation. Our focus on country, state, and local systems include operationalizing employment tools and resources, promoting financial wellness and peer advocacy goals, and delivering technical assistance and policy consultation. Led by SME Nicholas Love, WID’s work within this focus area is committed to achieving whole community living solutions. WID does this by ensuring that evolving policies are aligned and adopted to enable optimal delivery of framework, curriculum, and consulting services that will meet competitive, integrated employment and transitional work requirements.

Emergencies, Disasters, and Climate Resilience:
WID is a leader in disaster health equity, universal inclusion, and disaster justice for people with disabilities. With expertise in disability related disaster research, systems, inclusive policy and practice, and boots-on-the-ground experience in multiple national and international emergency responses, the WID disaster domain team is a robust global agent of change in systemic disability exclusion that has historically defined humanitarian aid. Led by SME Dawn Skaggs, WID’s work within this focus area is dedicated to providing inclusive disaster preparedness and resilience planning, training, consulting, and response acceleration to save lives and minimize the negative impact for people with disabilities and communities during times of emergency.