Resource Guide Online Toolkit

Introduction

This Online Toolkit is sponsored by American Express International Inc. The guides, checklists and resources it contains are designed to support the approach recommended in Community Business' 'Towards Disability Confidence - A Resource Guide for Employers in Hong Kong and Singapore' publication, which focuses on recommendations in the following 4 key areas:

• Take a strategic approach
• Change organisational culture and behavior
• Realise the potential of disabled employees
• Value disabled customers

This Online Toolkit takes these recommendations further, providing pragmatic advice and suggestions on what action companies can take to become 'disability confident'.

The term 'disability confidence' has been coined by the Employers' Forum on Disability and is understood to mean an organisation that:

• Understands and adapts for how disability affects every aspect of the business - people, markets, communities, suppliers and key stakeholders.
• Creates a culture of inclusion and removes barriers for groups of disabled people.
• Makes adjustments which enable specific individuals to contribute - as employees, customers, partners and valued stakeholders.

Ed Gilligan, Vice Chairman, American Express : "Becoming a Disability Confident Organization is a global priority for American Express. Raising our levels of awareness and taking pro-active steps to drive this agenda forward will enable us to both attract and retain a broader talent pool and enhance our ability to deliver superior products and services to our customers. As Executive Sponsor for our Global Diversity & Inclusion priorities, I'm delighted that American Express is the Lead Sponsor of Community Business' publication: 'Towards Disability Confidence - A Resource Guide for Employers in Hong Kong and Singapore' and of the development of this practical online toolkit which will enable organizations to get started on taking the first steps toward becoming Disability Confident. I hope you find this toolkit a valuable resource and wish you every success in your journey."

Jennifer Christie, Chief Diversity Officer, American Express:
"At American Express, we have been focusing on valuing disabled employees and customers in many of our countries across the globe. More recently, we have been collaborating on our best practices internally and externally with our strategic partners, such as the Employers' Forum on Disability in UK and the Australian Network on Disability, to help ourselves and other organizations kick-start their local and global focus on becoming Disability Confident. With over 650 million people with disabilities worldwide and 400 million of these living in Asia-Pacific region, there is a clear call to action to pay more attention to creating more inclusive workplaces and accessible products and services for our customers. Through sharing best practice tools, tips and cases studies via this online toolkit, we aim to accelerate progress on how organizations can more effectively tap into this employee and customer base."

Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to the organisations who have contributed time and resources to creating this toolkit in the form of interviews, documents, advice and feedback. These organisations include American Express, Accenture, Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Herbert Smith, Moody's, Nomura and PepsiCo AMEA as well as the Employer's Forum on Disability in the UK, Australian Network on Disability, Singapore National Employment Federation and Diversity Works Asia.

Accessibility
This webpage and the tools contained in it have all been created to be fully accessible and compliant with W3C Accessibility guidelines. The website is designed by HK web design company Kaos at www.lostinkaos.com and the documents made accessible by Diversity Works Asia at www.diversityworksasia.com. Information on how to make your documentation and websites accessible is contained in the 'Guidelines for written communication' and 'Guidelines for creating accessible websites and webpages'.

Online Toolkit Resources
The toolkit resources have been arranged in categories to help you quickly reach the most useful tools for your current situation, as follows:

What You Need to Know to Create the Business Case for Becoming Disability Confident

Setting the Agenda to Become a Disability Confident Employer

Building Awareness and Engaging Stakeholders

Creating Accessible Websites and Documentation

Links to Government Resources, NGOs and Local Disability Organisations Who Can Help You on Your Journey

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Click on the Toolkit Topic you want to access, below, to link to the relevant information:

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