Mayor Michelle Wu Announces New Disability Data Standards for the City of Boston

Mayor Michelle Wu announced new disability-aware standards for City resources and the collection of disability data from residents throughout government processes. This Disability Data Standard will support City workers who design and operate services, programs, and policies in the City of Boston and are intended to provide more dignified experiences for all residents and expand opportunities for people with disabilities across Boston’s neighborhoods. This initiative is led by the City of Boston Disabilities Commission in partnership with the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT).

​“Our goal in city government is ensuring that our policies, programs and services reach everyone and affirm and support our residents each and every day,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. "Boston is home to over 78,000 residents with disabilities and we know historically this community has not been fully included in city services and underserved in data standardization efforts. These new guidelines will create a common format for all city departments to collect data on disability - improving our services and creating a more welcoming experience for residents. I'm excited to see how these critical changes better support our constituents and move us forward in our work to make Boston a home for everyone."

Today’s announcement comes after several months of work to inform the design of the new data standardization across City departments. The work explored preferred language around disability identity and accommodations. Projects included focus groups with Boston residents, literature reviews, process mapping, and user research. Before the release of the new data standard, the City primarily collected data on disability with the Disability Survey of Boston residents; however data collection from that effort was too limited. The new disability data standard will collect more meaningful data to ensure City programs and services are accessible, welcoming, and inclusive to people with disabilities. 

“Understanding how disability impacts residents' participation in City of Boston programs and services is much more valuable than knowing residents' medical diagnosis, in most cases,” said City of Boston Disability Commission and ADA Title II Coordinator Kristen McCosh. “We expect the new data standardization to be more effective when planning and implementing programs, events, and services, because now we are asking people what people really need.” 

“We needed to identify best practices for collecting information about disability so we can make Boston even more inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities,” said Chief of Equity and Inclusion Mariangely Solis Cervera. “My staff worked closely with other city departments to map the process of specific city services to gain a better understanding of the experience for people with disabilities. 

The new standard will include the question, ‘Which of the following do you typically need to access services and events? (Select all that apply)’ and provides respondents 11 access and functional needs options as well as a write in option to select. An important guideline of the standard will be to offer multiple ways for people to participate.

“We were thrilled to partner with the City of Boston to provide research and technical assistance to the data standardization program,” said Ellysheva Bunge-Zeira, the Director of Training and Consulting at Disability Policy Consortium. “Our staff worked with the City to support meaningful engagement with Boston’s disability community including focus groups facilitated by our staff.”

The City of Boston will celebrate the new Data Standards at the 2024 ADA Day event on Wednesday, July 17th from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. This annual public event held on City Hall Plaza celebrates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a landmark civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Each year, the Disabilities Commission honors a partner, usually a City department, that has done exceptional work related to accessibility that year. This year, the City will be honoring DOIT for both the Data Standards and for their on-going work updating internal policies and training documents for departments to improve digital accessibility across City products.

“It was a privilege to be able to partner with the Commission for Persons with Disabilities and apply the lessons DoIT learned from developing the Gender-Aware Guidelines and Standards to the collection of data about disability,” said Chief Digital Officer Julia Gutiérrez. “The Disability Data Standard will help ensure more consistent data collection across departments and programs focused on what constituents need, which makes it easier for the City to understand where we can and should invest in accessibility from both a technology and program design perspective.” 

This announcement builds on the Mayor’s commitment to ensure that Boston is an inclusive and equitable city for all residents. Last August, the Mayor, along with the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement, and the City’s Registry Department, announced that the City updated its marriage licenses by no longer requiring sex or gender identification on the licenses - the first change made based on new gender-aware guidelines for City resources and the collection of gender-identity data.