The case for charter marks – the Disability Standard Diane Lightfoot, CEO, Business Disability Forum NADSN 13 July 2018

Who are we? Business Disability Forum is a not-for-profit member organisation that makes it easier and more rewarding to do business with and employ disabled people We have more than twenty-five years’ experience of supporting organisations by sharing expertise and advice, providing training and facilitating networking opportunities Our 300 members employ c. 15% of the UK workforce – and include an increasing number of Higher Education providers Ultimately, we exist to transform the life chances of disabled people as employees and consumers – students!

The Disability Standard 1. Commitment 2. Know-how 3. Adjustments 4. Recruitment 5. Retention 6. Product and services 7. Suppliers and partners 8. Communication 9. Premises 10. Information and communication (ICT)

Why do it? Go beyond Disability Confident to become “Disability Smart” Whole organisation approach – not just HR or D&I or CSR Identify barriers for both employees and students Identify priority areas of focus and action plans for improvement We manage what we measure! KPIs and ROI = justify investment Monitor progress – are we on track? How else do you know? Benchmark against – and learn from – others Prove it – create a USP to attracted disabled talent – students and staff Visible and public commitment Transformational

Achievable! Manchester Metropolitan University achieved gold in our Disability Standard – a score of 90+% Manchester Met have offered to host an event for HEIs on procurement and IT – let me know if you if you are interested