Organizations find that engaging a third-party surveyor can provide an extra degree of separation from management. This can increase employees’ trust in the privacy of the initiative, which is why we recommend Method 1: Qualtrics, when possible.
You may find that staff will be wary of disclosing they have a disability, especially those with an invisible disability, especially if their responses are tied to their name or employee number. If you have concerns about data security, you can read about other employers’ experiences with potential barriers to measurement in the Tools to Make It Count Guide.
2026 Survey Methods
1.Qualtrics Digital Survey (Recommended)
An organization can administer the two Pledge to Measure questions as a stand-alone digital survey. The Pledge to Measure team can create the survey through the Qualtrics platform, for free and with your branding, and provide your organization with a hyperlink that can be included in an introductory email from your leader(s) to your staff. This platform is digitally accessible, whereas some other digital survey platforms are not.
Please note: All submissions via Qualtrics, a secure web-based survey tool, are kept anonymous. All metadata and IP addresses are masked, and location data is not stored. Employees often feel more comfortable participating in surveys administered by a third party like this as it can increase the security of the initiative.
2. Paper Ballots
This option may be more efficient for organizations with a distributed workforce without easy access to email, or for small businesses without sufficient digital infrastructure.
With this option, the two Pledge to Measure questions would be distributed to employees for manual completion without any identifying information. All responses would be returned in unmarked, sealed envelopes to the project leader/HR manager for data collection.
The aggregate data for this method would then be submitted back to the Pledge to Measure via a Qualtrics submission link.
3. Gather Data from Existing Annual Surveys
The employer integrates the Pledge to Measure questions into a larger and already existing diversity and inclusion demographic survey or employee engagement survey.
Or, some employers may already participate in an external measurement initiative like the Great Place to Work program, and can gather the data from there instead.
The project lead or HR manager gathers the employee results, and the disability data is sent to the Pledge to Measure team via a Qualtrics submission link. We encourage you to make it clear to your staff that their data recorded for one initiative will also be contributed to the Pledge to Measure.
4. Internal Employee Data System (HRIS)
Some organizations that use an internal employee data system (sometimes called an HRIS) to run an annual campaign asking staff to update and/or modify any data that has changed (whether a disability is acquired, gender changes, address is updated, etc.).
They then gather this data on a set date. The data collected via this survey approach is confidential to the internal HR team, not anonymous; but is anonymous when it leaves the organization to be used in the Pledge to Measure.
We encourage employers using this method to ensure they provide information to employees about what a disability is (you can use our definition) and how their data is being used anonymously for the Pledge to Measure. These two pieces ensure employees recognize they are part of an important national initiative.
5. Direct Check-In
This survey method has emerged from some small businesses’ approach to the Pledge to Measure. A few employers with a high-trust culture use a direct check-in with staff to discuss what a disability is and the accommodation needs they may have in the workplace. This is not recommended unless it is a very psychologically safe work environment.
If you are a micro organization run by a person with a disability, this is also the survey method you can select to report your participation.
The data gathered via this method is not anonymous to the employer but should be kept confidential internally and reported back to the Pledge to Measure team via a Qualtrics submission link.
It is up to you to decide which survey methodology best suits your organization.
Additional information or support with these processes is available.
2026 Deadlines
The data is due by June 1, 2026.
