Skip Navigation
Image of people smiling and posing for a photo

Past Events

Voters with Disabilities and the Outcome of the 2020 Election: New Data and New Surprises

Read the transcript
Download the accessible PowerPoint
Election Topline – WordPDF
Election-Eve Topline – WordPDF

Now that the dust has settled on the outcome of the 2020 election, new data has poured in about voter preferences, turnouts, and ticket splitting. From the Democratic primaries all the way to election day, there have been unprecedented efforts by candidate for public office to talk about the issues most important to the approximately 38 million eligible voters with disabilities. Polling conducted earlier this year showed that the votes of the disability community were up for grabs all the way to November.

Watch the reveal of a new election day poll of over 2,400 voters completed by the national public opinion and political strategy research firm Lake Research Partners and in partnership with the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN). Our exciting panel helped make sense of how candidate outreach to voters with disabilities may have swung the election and where the disability community stands in relation to other underrepresented communities. [continue reading…]

The Community Reinvestment Act and Why It Matters for People with Disabilities

A Conversation and Call to Action with Michael Morris

Read the transcript
Download the accessible PowerPoint

Signed into law in 1977, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was created to encourage banks to meet the needs of all borrowers and work against the divisions created by discriminatory practices like redlining. The law has existed for 43 years to help low- and moderate-income neighborhoods through retail banking and community development. However, CRA has yet to fully support the inclusion of people with disabilities as an eligible group.

Now, the Federal Reserve Board is currently soliciting public feedback to guide future changes to the law, how banking regulations are created and how to promote greater inclusion. This is a critical opportunity for the disability community to get organized and send in our ideas.

According to the National Disability Institute, sixty percent of adults with disabilities only have a low or moderate income and that far too many Americans with disabilities live in neighborhoods that count as low- or moderate-income communities under the CRA.

Watch an exciting and dynamic conversation with Michael Morris, JD, the founder and Senior Strategic Advisor of National Disability Institute, about why CRA matters for people with disabilities and how we can make our collective voices heard. The conversation was moderated by Hon. Steve Bartlett, chairman of RespectAbility, former Mayor of Dallas and former President and CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable. [continue reading…]

Election 2020: Candidate Outreach to Voters with Disabilities

Read the transcript
Download Accessible PowerPoint

With the 2020 election just weeks away, candidates and campaigns are scrambling to reach persuadable voters and earn their vote. Researchers at Rutgers University estimate there are 38.3 million voters with a disability eligible to vote this November. From former Vice President Biden to candidates in down-ballot races at the state level, political candidates are reaching out to voters with disabilities and talking about the issues that matter most to them.

Featuring speakers from the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) and RespectAbility as well as self-advocates from the community, watch a fascinating discussion about what campaigns and candidates have been doing to reach out to the disability community. [continue reading…]

Webinar: Ensuring Authentic Representation of Hispanic and Latinx Disabled People in the Entertainment Industry


Read the Transcript

Authentic representation of marginalized populations on screen is vitally important as what people view on screen influences how they act in real-life. This Hispanic Heritage Month and National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), we were proud to spotlight Hispanic and Latinx individuals with disabilities who are changing the landscape in the entertainment industry. [continue reading…]

Lunch & Learn in our Virtual Sukkah

Sukkot commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land and celebrates the way in which God protected them under difficult desert conditions. In this time of COVID-19 we too are experiencing the need for shelter at a difficult time. Yet, many of us do not have the ability to build a physical Sukkah even ritually “dwell” in one this year. We came together and built a Virtual Zoom Sukkah.

Join RespectAbility for a virtual lunch and learn, with a twist. Everyone is encouraged to use either a virtual backdrop or something that they can hold up to the camera to help build our Virtual Sukkah together. [continue reading…]

Webinar: Example of Best Practice: DreamWorks’ Madagascar: A Little Wild

Presented in Partnership with DreamWorks Animation


Read the transcript

Pickles and Dave in a scene from Madagascar A Little Wild communicating via ASLHave you seen DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar: A Little Wild on Hulu or Peacock TV yet? RespectAbility board member Delbert Whetter, along with Jevon Whetter and Justin Maurer, consulted on this series, which includes a deaf character who uses sign language; the character’s sister also signs. Chimpanzee siblings Dave and Pickles are breaking barriers and are part of a movement changing the landscape of disability representation in children’s television and streaming content. Dave and Pickles have a meaningful story arc throughout the entire series and Dave is not defined by his deafness. Learn from the team’s ASL consultants as well as Executive Producer Johanna Stein, Co-Executive Producer and Story Editor Dana Starfield and Supervising Director TJ Sullivan on how these teams worked together to bring about dynamic deaf characters.

“When it comes to animation, there’s no excuse not to create a show filled with diverse characters. As animators we are world builders, we are literally creating all of the elements from scratch,” said EP Johanna Stein. Learn More: “Madagascar: A Little Wild” Takes Deaf Representation to the Next Level. [continue reading…]

Webinar: Example of Best Practice: Disney Channel’s Big City Greens

Presented in Partnership with The Walt Disney Company


Read the transcript

Disney Channel’s Emmy Award-nominated series Big City Greens is breaking barriers when it comes to ensuring authentic deaf representation. In the “Quiet Please” episode, the Green family visits the city library hoping to find a book that will spark Cricket’s interest in reading, but they quickly run afoul of a strict, eerie librarian. Determined to keep the library a quiet place, she threatens to throw them out if they make any sound, so they must communicate through gestures and sign language. RespectAbility’s board member Delbert Whetter, along with Jevon Whetter and Justin Maurer, consulted on this episode, which premiered on Saturday, September 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Disney Channel. Learn from these ASL consultants as well as Big City Greens Creators/Executive Producers Chris and Shane Houghton on how these teams worked together to bring about authentic representation of ASL. [continue reading…]

Yom Kippur Virtual Break Fast

Date: Monday, September 28
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. CT / 8:30 p.m. MT / 7:30 p.m. PT

We came together to celebrate the bright possibility of this new year during a virtual Zoom break fast.

Bagels, lox, and other food eaten during a typical Break Fast for Yom Kippur

Webinar: Opening Your Virtual Gates: Accessibility During the High Holidays


Read the transcript
Download the accessible PowerPoint

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing many synagogues and communities of worship to move at least part of their high holiday services, if not all, to an online format. The Jewish world is spending significant time and energy determining how to create a meaningful, spiritual experience online, and we want to ensure it also is accessible to the one in five Jews with disabilities. The good news is that it is easy to make online services, and related events, accessible to everyone if you know how. This webinar will get you started.

Join the co-authors of RespectAbility’s High Holiday Toolkit for streaming services, entitled; “Opening Your Virtual Gates: Making Online High Holiday Celebrations Accessible to All.” We provided a working introduction to the resources available in the guide as well as a Q&A for audience members to get their questions answered about accessibility for virtual high holiday services. [continue reading…]

1 2 16 17 18 19 20 28 29
Disability Belongs – Formerly RespectAbility

Contact Us

Mailing Address:
Disability Belongs™
43 Town & Country Drive
Suite 119-181
Fredericksburg, VA 22405

Office Number: 202-517-6272

Email: Info@DisabilityBelongs.org

Operational Excellence

Disability Belongs™ is recognized by GuideStar at the Platinum level, and has earned a Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator.
© 2025 Disability Belongs™. All Rights Reserved. Site Design by Cool Gray Seven   |   Site Development by Web Symphonies   |   Privacy   |   Sitemap

Back to Top

Translate »