About DisabilityWorld.org

DisabilityWorld (www.disabilityworld.org) is a unique international online magazine (e-zine), dedicated to advancing an exchange of information and expertise about the international independent living movement of people with disabilities.

Published by WID since 2000 and available only online, DisabilityWorld features a wide variety of news reports, international studies and research, new projects, interviews, book and film reviews. The majority of articles address disability-related developments in a particular country concerning social change through advocacy, self-help and building alliances; employment and entrepreneurial initiatives; technology and accessibility; governance, legislation and policies; and attitude change through mass media and the arts. Since 2005, DisabilityWorld has focused on initiatives and activities to improve the status of the estimated 400 million children, youth and adults with disabilities living in developing countries.

DisabilityWorld has over 30,000 regular readers from 200 countries.

The most recent issues of DisabilityWorld are sponsored by WID, and WID is currently seeking funds to resume publishing DisabilityWorld  on a more regular basis.

History and Background

Originally funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research as the cornerstone of the IDEAS for the New Millennium Project (1999-2005), DisabilityWorld was managed by WID and conducted as a collaborative effort with the participation of three other U.S.-based disability groups: The Independent Living Research Utilization Project (ILRU) of TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research), based in Houston, Texas; The Inter-American Institute on Disability (IID), based in Washington, D.C.; and Rehabilitation International (RI), based in New York, New York.

DisabilityWorld covered seven key content areas from 2000-2005: independent living; employment; arts & media; technology & accessibility; governance & legislation; women; and children & youth. Each year, DisabilityWorld focused on 10 countries, in addition to the U.S, using in-country reporters with the goal of developing a portrait of the status of people with disabilities in each of the countries targeted for coverage. The first 23 issues were published in both English and Spanish, and IID served as the editor for the Spanish editions. DisabilityWorld received an Ashoka Changemakers Award in 2002.

5 International Meetings

The IDEAS Project also hosted a series of experts’ meetings on key topics of interest to the disability community worldwide. The first in the series was on independent living, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2000; the second, on Employment in Houston, Texas in 2001; the third, on Mass Media and Disability in Moscow, Russia in 2002, including the first international disability film festival ever held in Russia; and most recently, on Governance in Durban, South Africa in 2003 with a follow-up session in Oslo, Norway in 2004. WID also covered two international experts’ meetings on access and technology, one in Brussels in October 2004 and the second in Rio de Janeiro in December 2004. In addition to coverage in DisabilityWorld, WID and its partners produced final reports on each of the five topics, all available via WID’s website (see the links at the bottom of this page).

Literature Database

DisabilityWorld also houses a literature database of more than 800 abstracts of articles primarily covering employment, independent living, governance, disabled women, disabled children, technology and appropriate technology, community based rehabilitation and rehabilitation in developing countries, all searchable by topic or country. However, due to limited resources, no new abstracts have been added since 2004.

How to Contribute

To contribute news or an article in English, email: editor@disabilityworld.org. If you are intersted in supporting DisabilityWorld, contact Kathy Martinez, WID's Executive Director at kathy@wid.org.