Disability Smart Awards 2023 search for innovative assistive tech that changes lives
Business Disability Forum is looking for an organisation that has used technology to improve the life opportunities and experiences of disabled people, in the workplace, as a consumer, or in wider society for a chance to win a technology award.
This might be through an innovative use of existing technology or through the development of a new digital or assistive technology product that has been created within the last 18 months.
The search for assistive technology innovations comes as part of Business Disability Forum’s Disability Smart Awards 2023 under the Technology Award category.
The awards open on 1 December 2022 and are free to enter here. They are open to UK and global organisations of any size in any sector.
The closing date for all nominations is 5pm (GMT) on 19 January 2023. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 27 April 2023.
From global leaders and innovative campaigners to change-making influencers and product developers, the Disability Smart Awards give organisations the opportunity to share their work and to inspire others.
There are 10 Disability Smart award categories for 2023. These include Disability Smart Technology, Accessible Built Environment, and Inclusive Workplace Experience. There is also a new award for this year – Disability Smart Inclusive Product Design.
The full list of awards is below:
- Disability Smart Diversity and Inclusion Professional
- Disability Smart Leader
- Disability Smart Technology
- Disability Smart Inclusive Workplace Experience
- Disability Smart Inclusive Recruitment
- Disability Smart Inclusive Communication
- Disability Smart Inclusive Customer Service
- Disability Smart Accessible Built Environment
- Disability Smart Learning and Development
- Disability Smart Inclusive Product Design
Last year’s winners included, Unilever, Skipton Building Society, University of Warwick, HSBC, Microsoft, Oliver James, Signly, GSK, KPMG, and British Land.
There are three additional awards for organisations registered for the UK Government’s Disability Confident employer scheme. These are:
- Disability Confident – Mental Health and Wellbeing at Work
- Disability Confident – Impact
- Disability Confident – Small Business
Business Disability Forum is a business membership organisation in disability inclusion. It works with businesses, government, and disabled people to improve the life experiences of disabled employees and consumers by removing barriers to inclusion.
Earlier this year, Business Disability Forum launched a helpful guide outlining showing how all businesses can make their built environments accessible to disabled people. The free guide covers what an inclusive built environment is, why creating inclusive environments is important for disabled people and businesses, the challenges facing global businesses when creating accessible and inclusive spaces, and how to create an inclusive built environment strategy.