ACM membership survey of disability and disability issues

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) conducted a survey focusing on its ability to provide special accommodations to its members with disabilities. This survey will help to determine: 1. the percentage of members who have some form of disability, 2. the adequacy of disability accommodations in the workplace, and 3. ACM's need to provide special accommodations for individuals with disabilities. A total of 7,977 surveys were mailed to ACM members residing in the US in July 1991, and the response rate was 23%. The majority of respondents indicated no difficulty in performing any of the 11 selected activities (57.8%). As disability awareness increases and the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act is realized, it is expected that facility design-modifications to accommodate individuals with disabilities will become more commonplace. It is interesting to note the high percentage of members indicating the electronic media (27%) and audio tapes (7.1%) would be useful.