Two years ago the government began collecting data on disabilities and employment as part of the U.S. Census. The information collected helped the Labor Department to create the first-ever report on the employment landscape for the 27 million working-age Americans with disabilities. Not surprisingly, the outlook is bleak, as reported in today’s Wall Street Journal.

Most of us are pretty familiar with the numbers. In 2009, the average unemployment rate for disabled workers was 14.5%, vs. 9 % for those without disabilities. The study shows that people with disabilities are much more likely to be older, or work only part-time, than people without disabilities. (Read the full release here).

The Labor Department’s report mirrors the 2010 Kessler Foundation and National Organization on Disability Survey on Americans with Disabilities that was released in July and timed to the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the civil rights law that is designed to increase employment by prohibiting discrimination in the workplace and calling for employers to provide the access and accommodations necessary to help workers with disabilities perform their jobs. (Read the USA Today article on the study).

The Kessler/NOD survey found that many social and economic gaps still exist between the 54 million Americans with disabilities and those without, ranging from employment to education to access to health care and transportation. The survey says 21% of working-age people with disabilities say they are employed, compared to 59% of people without disabilities –- a gap of 38 percentage points. Still, the employment gap has been decreasing since 1998.

But it’s good that we’re reporting this to the public. These numbers are often ignored by employers as they seek to build their workforce. Discrimination happens despite the ADA, and I’ve often said it’s because we have a broken hiring model. The hiring manager is tasked with finding the strongest candidate, which they do by weeding out weaker candidates. Without the right training and understanding, it’s too easy to dismiss a candidate who might have a limp, a hearing impairment, a loss of vision, or use wheelchair as being ‘weaker’ than someone without a disability. For the hiring manager to succeed in his job, he often ends up indirectly discriminating.

Some companies are making strategic efforts to bring more disabled into the workplace. New York City based Lime has created a corporate partnership with Goldman Sachs, Pepsi, Google and others to select college students with disabilities as Lime fellows, with the goal of helping them get internships with these firms.

The U.S. Business Leadership Network represents over 5,000 employers who have made a commitment to helping to hire more disabled workers. They include IBM, Merck, American Airlines, Shell, McDonald’s, Motorola, Starbucks (where I’m sitting right now, drinking a Venti iced Latte), Walmart, Walgreens, TecAccess, Wyndham Hotels, Disney, Marriott and more. (Check out the USBLN’s annual conference here).

Now the piece de resistance, which I will type in caps so you won’t miss it. HIRING A WORKER WITH A DISABILITY YEILDS A SIGNIFICANT RETURN ON INVESTMENT. This is an untapped group that excels at adapting new technology, are creative problem solvers, and are far more likely to spend their working hours proving to an employer why they were the right hire in the first place.

Don’t believe me? Check out this new brochure from Think Beyond the Label, a campaign to encourage small and medium sized businesses to hire people with disabilities: The Field Guide to Evolving Your Workforce.

If you’re still not convinced, let’s chat at a Starbucks, McDonald’s or Marriott hotel convenient to you. I’ve linked to their diversity policies to give you a headstart.

Last night at Gracie Mansion, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg held an event to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. I accepted an award on behalf of The AbleGamers Foundation, of which I am a board member. (Congrats, AbleGamers!!) While sitting up on stage as the Mayor gave his speech, I looked around the room for CART services. Figuring they didn’t offer CART, I tried to follow the sign-language interpreter. About halfway into the program I happened to look up: CART was on the ceiling!! I must have looked terribly foolish stretching my neck to read the Mayor’s words upside down. But I don’t think he noticed.

The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, led by Commissioner Matthew Sapolin, holds this event each year to recognize individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to increasing accessibility for people with disabilities. Says Bloomberg: “We have worked hard to make sure New Yorkers with disabilities have improved access to every aspect of the city, and we remain dedicated to making New York the greatest city in the world for people with disabilities.”

Here are the five recipients of the disability awards, which are given out based on the category — known as a title — of the ADA that they have helped advance.

Bank of America: Title I Employment Award
Bank of America was honored for its commitment to diversity and inclusion in its everyday activities such as charitable giving to organizations aiding those with disabilities, promotion and encouragement of internal volunteer-based affinity groups, and recruitment of diverse talent including its job accommodations group that integrates people with disabilities and arranges accommodations. Bob Qutub, Chief Financial Officer, Global Banking and Markets, Bank of America, accepted the award.

American Museum of Natural History: Title II Public Service Award
The American Museum of Natural History was honored with the Title II Public Service Award for its accessible exhibitions, theaters, and food service areas, as well as its Science Sense tours, which are geared for the blind and visually impaired, are free with admission and involve specially trained museum tour guides who highlight specific themes and exhibition halls while engaging participants through extensive verbal descriptions and touchable objects. Ann Siegel, Vice President for Operations and Capital Programs, American Museum of Natural History, accepted the award.

The NYC Independent Living Centers: Title III Reasonable Accommodation Award
The New York City Independent Living Centers was honored for providing a wide array of services to people with disabilities free of charge, including benefits counseling, housing assistance, employment-related assistance, healthcare access, skills training, recreational activities and more. Robert Gumson, Unit Manager, Independent Living Services, New York State Education Department’s Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals With Disabilities (VESID), accepted the award.

The AbleGamers Foundation: Title IV Telecommunications Award
The AbleGamers Foundation was honored with the Title IV Telecommunications award for its use of technology and accessible telecommunications, including its website, AbleGamers.com; its annual “Game Accessibility Day“, its interactive event “The Accessibility Arcade” that allows non-disabled people to look at, and experience the gaming world from the perspective of the disabled; and its “Path to Games Accessibility Project.” Suzanne Robitaille, Board Member, The AbleGamers Foundation, accepted the award.

Autism Speaks: Frieda Zames Advocacy Award
Autism Speaks, a nonprofit corporation that funds research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism, was honored with the Frieda Zames Advocacy Award, given to an individual or organization whose efforts for greater accessibility are a fitting tribute to the late Frieda Zames. Autism Speaks’ annual “Walk Now for Autism Speaks” event in New York City raised over $1 million and involved the participation of over 4,700 walkers. Mark Roithmayr, President, Autism Speaks, accepted the award.

By Suzanne Robitaille

Amid all the Americans with Disabilities Act anniversary celebrations last week, it’s worth noting that the U.S. House passed a bill that’s crucial to the deaf and hard of hearing population. H.R. 3101 would extend protections from the Telecommunications Act of 1996 — the law that made closed captioning on T.V. mandatory — to the Internet.

H.R. 3101 requires, with few exceptions, any T.V., cable or satellite program that airs with closed-captions to be also captioned on the Web. It encompasses websites like Hulu.com (owned by NBC) and ABC.com. Captions must be displayed on all devices that show television programs, regardless of size, which includes smart phones like the iPhone.

Desperate Housewives on Hulu.com, with captions

Unfortunately, H.R. 3101, which is also known as also known as the 21st Century Telecommunications and Video Accessibility Act, has been watered down from its original version. No longer will web-exclusive programming be required to have captions. Exempt from the bill are new networks like TheWB.com and Crackle.com, which create entertainment for mobile devices and smart phones.

Movie lovers are out of luck, too. H.R. 3101 does not cover services like Netflix that offer on-demand streaming movies and T.V. programs, such as Lost and The Sopranos, over the Internet. “Netflix is out of jurisdiction [for this bill],” says Rosaline Crawford, a director at the National Association for the Deaf. NAD, an advocacy group, is part of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, which is pushing for H.R. 3101 and other captioning initiatives.

However, the Department of Justice, which regulates the ADA, is considering requiring public and private websites — including retailers and other e-commerce sites — to be accessible to individuals with disabilities.

“It will be interesting to see how [these new] regulations for public accommodations … will apply to Netflix,” Crawford says.

In the meantime, the Senate is currently considering a different –- albeit, weaker –- version of the bill. It’s called S 3304. There’s a push underway to persuade the Senate to adopt H.R. 3101 instead. That’s because the House version includes language that would require the Federal Communications Commission to consider adopting captioning rules for Internet-exclusive programs three years after the bill becomes law.

For more details, including how to contact U.S. Senators, contact the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology or the National Association of the Deaf. You can also contact Netflix and ask the company to expedite captions for its online movies and T.V. programs.

By Suzanne Robitaille

In front of invited guests including Cabinet officials, Members of Congress, grassroots leaders and Americans living with disabilities, President Obama commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on the White House South Lawn today.

“I see so many champions of this law here today,” says President Obama.”I want to thank all of you … who have helped advance the spirit of the law.”

Obama says he wants to help those who have been turned away for jobs or services, like going to the movies, due to disabilities. People with disabilities “refused to accept the word ‘no’ … “and progress was born,” he says.

Obama’s father, he says, suffered from Multiple Sclerosis and got up earlier than others to get to work, but never missed a day, Obama says.

The President also signed an Executive Order to increase federal employment of individuals with disabilities.The Executive Order fulfills a pledge by the President to have the federal government be a model employer of people with disabilities.

It establishes mechanisms such as mandatory training for hiring managers, requires preparing of strategic plans by agencies, requires the White House to develop model guidelines and assistance for hiring people with disabilities, reporting to the President about progress, and publicizing results on a website as a way to promote transparency. 

The President was joined onstage at the signing by Administration officials, including Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.

Patti Labelle

The event included performances by Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, Patti LaBelle and Marlee Matlin. LaBelle sang “I Got a New Attitude” and Wind Beneath My Wings,” among other songs.

CSI actor Robert David Hall introduced the President.Hall is an amputee and his brother, Bruce, is legally blind.

Related articles: Obama On ADA: “You Refused To Accept The World As It Was”

By Suzanne Robitaille

Kathy Martinez is assistant secretary, Office of Disability Employment Policy, for the Department of Labor. A long-time disability advocate, Martinez, who is blind, spoke at the National Council on Disability’s national policy summit on what her office is doing to make sure more jobs go to people with disabilities.

On working in Washington:
It’s great to have [Hilda] Solis as my boss. I feel like we are woven into the fabric of the Department of Labor. We’re not sitting in the corner downstairs.

On the job landscape for people with disabilities:
Many people have given up looking for jobs. They believe they’ll lose their benefits if they go back to work. The labor statistics for June show that 14% of people with disabilities are unemployed vs. only 9% for people without disabilities. We need to create an “encouraged worker effect” to reverse the trend of discouraging workers from returning to the labor force.

Kathy Martinez and NCD panelists

How ODEP is making an impact:
We’re working with federal and state partnerships like the Social Security Administration, the Department of Transportation, Health and Human Services [and others]. We just announced a $24 million disability employment initiative, and we’ll partner with Medicaid, Ticket to Work, vocational rehabilitation agencies across states. All these folks have a stake in the employment pathway for folks with disabilities.

Other strategies in the works:
We’re creating models that use successful and universal employment strategies like universal design, customized employment, and flexible workplace concepts like telework. We want to ‘blend and braid’ the services that don’t typically work together, and we’re seeking proposals from everyone on how to do this. Additionally, we’re working with the Employment Training Administration to reauthorize and strengthen the Workforce Investment Act.

On federal hiring initiatives:
President Obama is going to strengthen Section 503 of the Rehab Act of 1973. This requires federal contratctors and subcontratctors to hire people with disabilities [in order to get government dollars.] The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contracts Compliance is putting out an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to modernize Section 503. These contractors represent 22% of the workforce in country. We’ll have a tremendous impact on the employment of people with disabilities if the right regulations are in place.

On minority-owned business hiring:
We want our minority brothers and sisters to do a better job of hiring people with disabilities, and we want to increase the capacity of minority-owned businesses to employ folks with disabilities. There’s a program called Add Us In that’s working on this.

On getting to work:
Transportation is a major issue for employment. [An audience member who has muscular dystrophy commented on the high cost – around $35,000 – of buying and adapting a wheelchair accessible van to get to and from work. Vocational rehabilitation agencies will pay for the adaptations, but not the van.] People with disabilities need to be able to save money for these things. Obama has promised to establish a commission to deal with this. It’s true; on the one thing we’re saying get a job but on the other hand you’re not allowed to save more than $2,000 [for items like accessible equipment.]

On making hiring for disabilities ‘count’:
[Neil Jacobson, CEO of Abilicorp, a disability recruiting firm, says that unlike companies that measure hiring for race and gender reasons, nobody ‘counts’ how many people with disabilities are being hired.] We need to measure disability. Maybe there are affirmative action models that would be appropriate. That’s why we have the ANPRM, to encourage proposals from others around this issue.

Who to contact with an employment complaint:
If you have an employment complaint about a public entity, contact the Department of Justice. If it’s a private entity, you must go through the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, who can advocate on your behalf.

By Suzanne Robitaille

Related article: Labor Dept. Grants $2 Million For ‘Add Us In’ Program