July: Disability Pride Month.

July is people with disabilities Pride Month.

This American date is becoming increasingly popular among people with disabilities.

On 26 July 1990 the President of the United States, George H.W. Bush, signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the first Disability Pride Day was celebrated in Boston that year. Since then it has been celebrated in other countries, and is spreading worldwide.

Disability Pride Month is a new concept and marks a break from the traditional concept associated with disability. It promotes visibility and widespread awareness of positive pride for people with functional diversity in the community.
It has its roots in pride events in other minority communities such as Black pride or LGBT+ Pride.

In Spain there are 3.8 million people with disabilities, of which the LGBTI community suffers double discrimination: for having a disability and for being LGBTI.
For this reason, this year the Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities (CERMI) and the CERMI Women’s Foundation have published their manifesto for LGTBI Pride month, in which they call for a society free of violence and “that does not single out, separate or discriminate against anyone”.

Under the slogan ‘Facing hate: Visibility, Pride and Resilience’.

What can you do?

1- Participate in an event and share.
Over the next few weeks there will be different events to celebrate and demand the full inclusion of all groups.

2- Learn from people with disabilities.
Listen to their stories, find out what they can contribute. People with disabilities are not your source of inspiration, they are people with the same concerns as you, who like to enjoy themselves, work, go on holiday, just like you.

3- Become an ally.
Start by communicating in an accessible way on your social networks.

– Add alternative text to all photos and images in your posts.
– Add image descriptions in the text of your posts.
– Use capital letters in every word of your Hashtags. Example: #MovingDisabilityPride

These three actions will make your posts reach people with disabilities who use screen readers, or have difficulty understanding or reading.

Of course there are many more things you can do.

If you want to discover the potential of #InclusiveFashion and learn how design decisions affect the accessibility and usability of clothing, sign up for one of our All Abilities Fashion masters. Click here

You will learn from product design, how to use accessible colour palettes, how to improve production and strategies to bring your inclusive products to market.

Join the new Inclusive revolution and support people with disabilities!

This month a 20% discount using the code: MovingPride. Until 31st July 2022.