National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2026: Theme, Facts, and Resources
Updated for National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2026
Every October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) recognizes the contributions of workers with disabilities and calls attention to the barriers that still keep too many people out of the workforce.
The 2026 NDEAM theme is “Celebrating Value and Talent.” The U.S. Department of Labor is carrying last year’s theme forward in honor of America’s 250th birthday, highlighting the role people with disabilities have played in shaping workplaces, communities, and the economy.
There’s still a long way to go. In July 2026, only 38.3% of working-age people with disabilities were employed, compared with 75% of people without disabilities. For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), opportunities for competitive, integrated employment are even more limited.
At The Arc, disability employment is year-round work. We advocate for policies that expand competitive, integrated employment, challenge low expectations and discrimination, and create more opportunities for people with disabilities to build careers and earn fair wages.
NDEAM is a time to recognize the talents and contributions people with disabilities bring to the workforce and address the barriers that keep too many people from having the same opportunities to work and build careers. For employers, that starts with looking at who’s missing from their workforce and why.
What Is National Disability Employment Awareness Month?
National Disability Employment Awareness Month, or NDEAM, is observed every October to raise awareness about disability employment, promote inclusive workplace practices, and expand opportunities for people with disabilities to work and build careers.
The observance began in 1945 as a week recognizing workers with physical disabilities. Congress expanded it to a month in 1988. Today, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy sets the annual theme and provides resources to help employers and communities take part.
What Is the 2026 National Disability Employment Awareness Month Theme?
The 2026 NDEAM theme is “Celebrating Value and Talent.” The U.S. Department of Labor chose to continue the 2025 theme through 2026 as the country marks its 250th birthday.
The theme highlights the role people with disabilities have played throughout American history and the skills, expertise, and perspectives they bring to workplaces today.
Celebrating that value also means making sure people with disabilities have access to jobs, advancement, fair wages, and workplaces where they can succeed.
What Are the Biggest Employment Barriers for People With Disabilities?
People with disabilities continue to face barriers to finding jobs, staying employed, and advancing in their careers. For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), those barriers can be compounded by limited access to employment supports and too few opportunities for competitive, integrated employment.
Those barriers show up in a striking employment gap. Working-age people without disabilities are nearly twice as likely to be employed as people with disabilities. For people with IDD, the gap can be even greater. In 2024, only 16% of people receiving services from state IDD agencies were working in individual, competitive integrated jobs.
The problem isn’t a lack of talent or desire to work. Employers can underestimate workers with disabilities or make assumptions about what they can do, what support they will need, or how much accommodations will cost.
Common barriers include:
- Hiring bias and low expectations
- Inaccessible applications and interviews
- Inadequate workplace accommodations
- Transportation and support barriers
- Limited opportunities for promotion and career growth
- Concerns about how earnings could affect Medicaid, SSI, or other essential benefits
- Too few opportunities for competitive, integrated employment
The Arc advocates for competitive, integrated employment, where people with disabilities work alongside people without disabilities, receive comparable wages, and have opportunities to advance in their careers.
What Employment Rights Do People With Disabilities Have?
People with disabilities are protected from employment discrimination under federal law, and qualified applicants and employees may have the right to reasonable accommodations.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers can’t discriminate based on disability in hiring, pay, promotions, training, job assignments, firing, and other employment practices. Federal employment protections under the ADA generally apply to private employers with 15 or more employees and to state and local government employers. Some state and local laws offer additional protections.
A reasonable accommodation is a change to the hiring process, work environment, or way a job is usually done that gives a qualified person with a disability an equal employment opportunity. Examples could include accessible technology, a modified schedule, changes in how information is communicated, or adjustments to the physical workspace.
Workers also don’t need to use legal language to ask for an accommodation. They can tell an employer they need a change at work because of a disability or medical condition. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says there are no required “magic words” for making a request.
People with disabilities who have questions about workplace accommodations can use the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) for free, confidential guidance.
Why Should Companies Hire People With Disabilities?
Hiring people with disabilities gives companies access to talent that too often gets overlooked. Research has also found a strong relationship between disability inclusion and business performance.
Research from Accenture and Disability:IN found that companies identified as leaders in disability inclusion had 1.6 times more revenue, 2.6 times more net income, and twice the economic profit of other companies participating in the Disability Equality Index. They were also 25% more likely to outperform their industry peers on productivity, measured by revenue per employee.
Employees with disabilities bring skills and expertise across every industry. Disability-inclusive workplaces can also push companies to improve technology, communication, flexibility, and other practices in ways that can benefit the broader workforce.
The Arc knows the value of inclusive employment firsthand. Our employment stories feature people with IDD building careers across industries and employers describing the value they bring to their workplaces.
People with disabilities should be hired for the same reason anyone else is hired: because they have the skills, experience, and potential to contribute.
How Much Do Workplace Accommodations Cost?
Workplace accommodations often cost far less than employers expect. According to the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), 61% of employers who reported accommodation costs said the accommodations they provided cost nothing. For accommodations with a one-time cost, the median expense was $300.
Accommodations can be as simple as changing a work schedule, adjusting how information is communicated, modifying a workplace policy, or providing equipment or technology. What works depends on the employee and the job.
Employers in JAN’s research also reported benefits from accommodations, including retaining valuable employees and improving productivity and morale.
Employers looking for help can use the Job Accommodation Network’s free, confidential resources and consultation services for guidance on accommodations, the ADA, hiring, workplace policies, and specific accommodation situations.
How Can Employers Hire More People With Disabilities?
Employers can hire more people with disabilities by removing barriers from recruiting, applications, interviews, and onboarding and by intentionally reaching job seekers with disabilities.
Start by asking:
- Are your online applications and career pages accessible?
- Do job descriptions include requirements that aren’t actually necessary to do the job?
- Do applicants know they can request an accommodation during the hiring process?
- Can you offer different interview formats when appropriate?
- Are recruiters and hiring managers trained to recognize implicit bias about disability and focus on a candidate’s skills and qualifications?
- Are you recruiting through disability organizations, employment programs, and other networks that can connect you with job seekers with disabilities?
Not sure where to start? The Arc’s Starter Guide to Creating an Inclusive Workplace offers seven steps employers can take to strengthen disability hiring and inclusion.
What Makes a Workplace Disability-Inclusive?
A disability-inclusive workplace builds accessibility, accommodations, flexibility, and trust into everyday workplace practices.
It also needs to be a place where employees feel safe disclosing a disability if they choose to. Accenture research found that 76% of employees with disabilities don’t fully disclose their disabilities at work. Many disabilities aren’t apparent, and employees may worry that disclosure could change how coworkers or managers see them or limit their opportunities to advance. The goal is to create a workplace where people can disclose when they want or need to without worrying that it’ll hurt their career.
Hiring is only the beginning. Employers should also:
- Make the accommodation process easy to find, confidential, and safe to use.
- Build accessibility into technology, meetings, communications, and physical spaces.
- Give managers training on disability inclusion and accommodations.
- Offer flexibility where the job allows it.
- Include employees with disabilities in decisions about workplace policies that affect them, without expecting them to educate everyone else.
When accessibility and flexibility are built into the workplace from the start, they can remove barriers before an employee ever has to ask for help and make work better for employees with and without disabilities.
How Can Employers Retain and Advance Employees With Disabilities?
Hiring people with disabilities is only one part of workplace inclusion. Employers also need to make sure employees with disabilities have equitable opportunities to stay, grow, take on new responsibilities, and move into leadership.
Employers can:
- Make professional development and training accessible.
- Review promotion and performance processes for barriers or implicit bias.
- Make sure employees with disabilities are considered for stretch assignments, mentorship, and leadership opportunities.
- Train managers to have effective conversations about accommodations, performance, and career goals.
- Track retention and advancement, not just disability hiring.
- Create ways for employees to raise concerns about accessibility or discrimination without fear of retaliation.
- Include employees with disabilities in workplace planning and decision-making.
Employees shouldn’t have to choose between getting the support they need and being seen as someone with potential to advance. Employers can help by making accommodations routine, protecting privacy, and ensuring that disability doesn’t become a barrier to career growth.
How Can Employers Celebrate NDEAM in 2026?
Employers can celebrate NDEAM by using October to highlight disability employment, learn from people with disabilities, and share resources that help build more inclusive workplaces.
Ideas include:
- Share the 2026 theme, “Celebrating Value and Talent,” and official Department of Labor NDEAM materials.
- Host a conversation or training on disability employment and workplace inclusion.
- Share The Arc’s employment stories to highlight the experiences and contributions of workers with IDD.
- Invite employees with disabilities who want to participate to share their perspectives, while making participation completely voluntary.
- Share resources, including The Arc’s Starter Guide to Creating an Inclusive Workplace and the Job Accommodation Network.
Where Can People With Disabilities Find Employment Help?
People with disabilities looking for work or trying to advance in their careers can get help with job searches, employment supports, accommodations, and questions about how working may affect disability benefits.
Depending on where you live and the type of support you need, options may include:
- State vocational rehabilitation agencies, which can help eligible people with disabilities prepare for, find, keep, or advance in employment.
- American Job Centers, which provide employment and training services to job seekers, including people with disabilities.
- Benefits counseling, which can help people receiving disability benefits understand how work and earnings may affect SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, or Medicare.
- The Job Accommodation Network, which provides free, confidential information about workplace accommodations and employment issues.
- Chapters of The Arc. Some chapters provide employment programs, job coaching, training, or other employment supports. Find a chapter of The Arc in your community to learn what is available locally.
People with disabilities deserve the same opportunities as anyone else to find work, earn fair wages, grow in their careers, and be valued for what they bring to the workplace. NDEAM puts a national spotlight on disability employment each October, but creating those opportunities takes work all year long.
The killing of Ryan Gainer, a Black autistic teen, is a devastating injustice. Too many people with disabilities, especially those from marginalized communities, cannot access the crisis intervention services they need. In the face of Ryan’s mental health crisis, his family called 911 for help. Instead of receiving the care he needed from a competent professional, he was killed. Because of the tragedy of Ryan’s death and the death of others before him, The Arc’s National Center on Criminal Justice & Disability is working to reform our public safety practices across the country. This center offers comprehensive training to improve crisis response for people like Ryan. Our hearts go out to the Gainer family and all those who loved Ryan. We pledge to continue to keep working for a just, equitable world for all people with disabilities.
Kris lives with his sister’s family in his hometown of Greely, Colorado, and has been successfully employed for 40 years, currently working full time at the busiest grocery store in town. He is an avid sports fan—Go Bears!—has a busy social life, and because of his gregarious personality he is a bit of a local celebrity, traveling around town on his e-bike. Kris has become very active in civic service—involved with the Chamber of Commerce, volunteering at local nonprofits, and serving in leadership roles at both The Arc of Weld County and on The Arc’s National Council of Self-Advocates.
Roselyn has lived with her mother and received support from The Arc of Greater Indianapolis since 1981. During the week, Roselyn works at Corteva Agriscience through The Arc of Greater Indianapolis’ employment services. She works as part of a team that assists scientists in preparing seedling trays for growing new plants, hosing down trays when experiments are complete, and keeping the greenhouse labs clean. Roselyn is very proud of her work and the independence she has from earning a paycheck. She recently bought a kitchen table set and used her tax check to buy a new washer and dryer.
