Aidar Akmaev
Disclosure: NOXI publishes this guide and is one of the tools it mentions; the outline and the checks work in any presentation software. It is not medical advice and not legal advice, it recommends no accommodation for anyone, and nothing is stated about disability here unless a United Nations or government page states it.
Disability awareness presentation: the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is Thursday 3 December 2026, and UN DESA's own event page gives the theme as "The CRPD at 20: Building on Progress, Advancing the Future." Build 12 slides around that, WHO's 1.3 billion and 16%, and 194 CRPD parties. Checked 2 November 2026.
Two things go wrong in almost every deck made for 3 December. The theme is last year's, because the page most people check has not caught up. And the statistics arrive with no base, so nobody can tell what 16% is 16% of.
In short
- DateThursday 3 December 2026. The United Nations Headquarters event runs from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST [1].
- Theme"The CRPD at 20: Building on Progress, Advancing the Future." on UN DESA's 2026 event page [1].
- The trapun.org/en/observances carried no 2026 theme when we opened it on 2 November 2026, only a heading reading Theme 2025 [3].
- Every figure labelledWHO's 1.3 billion and 16% are shares of the world's population, with no data year on either [7] [8].
- The treatyAdopted 13 December 2006, in force 3 May 2008, 194 parties and 164 signatories on 2 November 2026 [5].
- SymbolsNo UN emblem, flag or logo for the Day on any slide. You may quote the theme and say you are marking the Day [13] [14].
Pick the cut that matches your room. The numbers refer to the outline below, and every version keeps slides 1 and 12.
| Room | Length | Slides from the 12 | What to leave behind |
|---|---|---|---|
| School assembly (ages 11 to 16) | 8 min | 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 12 | The words matter as much as the numbers |
| Workplace session | 20 min | 1 to 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 | One commitment, with a date and an owner |
| Ministry or board briefing | 15 min | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12 | Twenty years, and what 194 includes |
| Student project | 20 min | All 12 | Every base, and the two figures nobody publishes |
| Reception screen | Silent loop | 1, 4, 7, 9, 12 | Date, theme, one figure, readable at five metres |
Key numbers
Six figures, read on 2 November 2026 from United Nations pages. Two carry no data year, and that goes on the slide.
Changed recently on the official pages
Five readings, each with the date the page itself carries and the date we opened it. Three of them decide what goes on slide 1.
| Date on the page | What moved | Source | Read on |
|---|---|---|---|
| File path dated 2026-10 | A draft concept note for 3 December appeared, linked from the event page. It names the Trusteeship Council Chamber and breaks the treaty count down as 193 States and the European Union | UN DESA concept note [2] | 2 November 2026 |
| Event dated 3 December 2026 | The 2026 event page carries the theme, the twentieth-anniversary framing, the times and a registration deadline of 16 November 2026 | UN DESA event page [1] | 2 November 2026 |
| Latest date 3 December 2025 | un.org/en/observances carried a heading reading Theme 2025 and no 2026 theme, which is what the template sites are copying | un.org observance page [3] | 2 November 2026 |
| Status stamp 02-11-2026 | The Treaty Collection printed 194 parties and 164 signatories. The counts held; the stamp is re-dated on every visit | UN Treaty Collection [5] | 2 November 2026 |
| 17 September 2026 | The accessibility overview was updated and now gives WCAG 2.2 two dates, 5 October 2023 and 12 December 2024, while the Recommendation carries only the later one | W3C WAI [15] [16] | 2 November 2026 |
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities: the date, the theme and the page that has not caught up
The theme for 3 December 2026 is published, and it is not on the page most people check. UN DESA's own event page, opened at 10:30:02 UTC on 2 November 2026, says the Day will be observed under the theme "The CRPD at 20: Building on Progress, Advancing the Future." [1] The same page says the observance marks the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted on 13 December 2006 [1].
| Page | What it said on 2 November 2026 | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| UN DESA, 2026 event page [1] | The 2026 theme, the anniversary framing, the times, a venue to be confirmed, the registration deadline | Quote this one on slide 1 |
| UN DESA, draft concept note [2] | Headed as a draft. The same theme, the Trusteeship Council Chamber, two panels, 193 States plus the European Union | Use it for the breakdown, and say draft |
| un.org, observance page [3] | A heading reading Theme 2025, then the 2025 wording. We searched the whole page for the 2026 theme and found nothing | Use it for the date, never the theme |
What the 2026 theme is asking for
The theme turns on the anniversary rather than on a new campaign. UN DESA's draft concept note says the Convention marked a historic shift towards a human rights-based approach to disability, and carries the movement's own principle, "Nothing about us without us." [2] It names the provisions a presenter can point at: articles 9 on accessibility, 24 on education, 25 on health, 27 on work and employment, 29 on public life, and 30 on cultural life and sport [2]. One organising idea comes out of that: access as a right agreed twenty years ago.
Why the stale page matters for your deck
Search for the theme, land on un.org/en/observances first, and the 2025 wording goes on slide 1 where nobody will catch it. That page is not wrong, and it labels its own theme correctly [3]. It simply carries no 2026 theme. Take the theme from the page whose event is dated 2026, and label the 2025 and 2024 themes by their years wherever they appear [3] [4].
Where to start, by the room you are in
Six routes, each naming the page or tool that does the job. Five are somebody else's.
- If you are running a school assembly → take the theme from UN DESA's 2026 event page and use three figures at most, because un.org/en/observances carried only the 2025 theme when we read it on 2 November 2026 [1] [3].
- If you are running a workplace session → put the United Nations Disability-Inclusive Communications Guidelines, March 2022, on a slide, because the wording is the part colleagues repeat afterwards [12].
- If you are briefing a ministry or a board → lead with the United Nations Treaty Collection, which stamped 194 parties and 164 signatories on 2 November 2026, and say what that count includes [5].
- If you are a student doing a project → cite WHO's 1.3 billion and 16% to the Global report published on 2 December 2022, because WHO publishes no data year and a marker will ask [7] [8].
- If the deck itself has to pass a check → run Microsoft's Accessibility Checker from the Review tab, which runs automatically in the background while you build a presentation [17].
- If you have the facts and need the slides → use NOXI: write the first three slides yourself, attach them, and choose Complete a draft to finish the rest in the same structure.
The disability awareness presentation outline: 12 slides
Twelve slides covers the day without padding: what it is, what the treaty did, where things stand, what the words should be, and what you are doing. Every slide with a number carries its base and source in the footer.
| # | Slide | What goes on it | Footer source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The day and the theme | The date, the 2026 theme, your organisation and the speaker | UN DESA [1] |
| 2 | What the theme means | Twenty years since the Convention was adopted | UN DESA [1] [2] |
| 3 | The Convention in four facts | Adopted, in force, 194 parties, 164 signatories, what parties includes | Treaty Collection [5] |
| 4 | Where things stand | 1.3 billion and 16% of the world's population, with no data year stated | WHO [7] [8] |
| 5 | What that means day to day | Three WHO comparisons, each against persons without disabilities | WHO [7] [8] |
| 6 | Work | About 80 per cent are of working age, and no global gap figure exists | ILO [10] |
| 7 | Access, not charity | The idea the theme turns on, with two Convention articles named | Concept note [2] |
| 8 | Our own numbers | Your commitments, each with a date and an owner | Your own records |
| 9 | The words we use | The recommended column of the UN table, six rows | UN guidelines [12] |
| 10 | The words to avoid | The avoid column, plus the term that depends on the room | UN guidelines [12] |
| 11 | Making this deck accessible | Alt text, reading order with its platform named | Microsoft [17] [18] |
| 12 | Sources | Each page by name, with the date you opened it | Your own list |
Write each title as the finding, not the category: "The Convention was adopted twenty years ago", never "Background". Our guide on how to structure a presentation covers that pattern, and it is what makes a source line beside a claim worth more than a sources page at the end.
The figures, with their bases, and the two nobody publishes
Every figure here is a share or a comparison, so every one needs a base beside it. WHO's headline estimate is 1.3 billion people experiencing significant disability, which it describes as 16% of the world's population, or 1 in 6 [7]. The base is the world's population, and the date to cite is the publication of the Global report on health equity for persons with disabilities on 2 December 2022, because WHO attaches no data year to the estimate [8].
| Figure | Base: who or what it counts | Data year | Source, opened 2 November 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.3 billion | People experiencing significant disability, worldwide | None stated | WHO [7] [8] |
| 16%, or 1 in 6 | Share of the world's population | None stated | WHO [7] |
| up to 20 years earlier | Death, against persons without disabilities | None stated | WHO [7] |
| twice the risk | Conditions such as depression, asthma or diabetes, against persons without disabilities | None stated | WHO [7] |
| 2 to 4 times | Women with disabilities, against women without, for intimate partner violence | None stated | WHO [7] |
| up to 15 times | How much more limiting inaccessible transportation is | None stated | WHO [7] [8] |
| about 80 per cent | Share of all persons with disabilities who are of working age | None stated | ILO [10] |
| twice as likely | Young persons with disabilities, to be in none of employment, education or training | None stated | ILO [10] |
Three United Nations bodies, three versions of one statistic
All three readings were live on 2 November 2026, and only one belongs in a 2026 deck. WHO gives 1.3 billion and 16% [7]. The World Bank gives over a billion and 16% [9]. The ILO gives 16 per cent and more than 1 billion [10]. A factsheet still hosted on un.org gives around 15 per cent and an estimated 1 billion, undated, tagged to WHO while printing a figure WHO no longer uses [11]. Use WHO's figure, and if anyone quotes 15%, that page is where they found it.
The two figures this guide refuses to print
Template decks fill both gaps with numbers that do not survive a check. There is no current, global, dated employment-gap figure on who.int, un.org or worldbank.org. The 35 per cent against 78 per cent pairing that circulates comes from a 2004 United States survey on that same undated factsheet, so it is 22 years old and it is not global [11]. Nor is there a current share for how many persons with disabilities live in low and middle income countries: the factsheet attributes 80 per cent to the UN Development Programme while tagging the line to WHO [11]. A slide saying no current global figure is published is stronger than a slide with a wrong one, the discipline our diabetes awareness presentation guide uses.
Twenty years of the Convention: the four facts a slide can carry
Four facts fit on one slide and they are the whole anniversary. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in New York on 13 December 2006 by resolution A/RES/61/106, opened for signature by all States and by regional integration organizations on 30 March 2007, and entered into force on 3 May 2008 [5].
| Fact | What it says | Source, read 2 November 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Adopted | 13 December 2006, New York, by resolution A/RES/61/106 | UN Treaty Collection [5] |
| In force | 3 May 2008, under article 45(1); registration 44910 | UN Treaty Collection [5] |
| Parties and signatories | 194 parties and 164 signatories, on a status stamp reading 02-11-2026 | Treaty Collection [5]; UN DESA [6] |
| What 194 includes | 193 States and the European Union, so not a count of 194 countries | UN DESA draft concept note [2] |
Two habits keep that slide accurate. Never merge the Convention's counts with the Optional Protocol's, a separate instrument with 110 ratifications and 95 signatories [6]. And re-read both counts in the week you present, which is why the status stamp matters [5].
The words we use, from the United Nations own table
One sentence in the United Nations guidelines settles the default for the whole deck: "'Persons with disabilities' is the correct term, which does not need to be modified." [12] The United Nations Disability-Inclusive Communications Guidelines are dated March 2022 and were written with the International Disability Alliance consulted [12]. They state that, in line with the Convention, the United Nations uses person-first language, which puts the person before the disability, while identity-first language switches the word order [12].
| Recommended by the UN table | Listed in the avoid column |
|---|---|
| Person with disability, persons with disabilities | Disabled person, handicapped, person with special needs, differently abled |
| With disability, with an impairment, with a condition | Suffers from, afflicted by, stricken by, affected by |
| Person with an intellectual disability or impairment | Retarded, slow, subnormal, feeble-minded, mentally handicapped |
| Person with a psychosocial disability | Insane, crazy, lunatic, demented, mentally ill |
| Person with a physical disability | Crippled, invalid, deformed, lame, handicapped |
| Accessible parking, accessible bathroom | Disabled parking, handicapped bathroom, handicapped friendly building |
That table is condensed from Table 1, which carries more rows than a slide can hold [12]. Two lines belong in a presenter's notes: shift the focus to the person rather than the impairment, and do not use terms associated with persons with disabilities as adjectives [12].
The portrayals to keep out of the deck
The guidelines name the stereotypes directly, instructing writers not to portray persons with disabilities as vulnerable or a burden on others, as living a life of less value or quality, as less than human, as dangerous, or as extraordinary or superheroic [12]. That last one is the trap, because it looks like a compliment. A slide built around somebody overcoming their disability for an audience's benefit is on the list. Choose ordinary working life instead, the rule our mental health awareness presentation guide applies.
The one term that depends on who is in the room
One term needs both facts stated and no verdict from us. "People of determination" appears in the avoid column of Table 1 in the United Nations guidelines of March 2022 [12]. It is also the official term of the United Arab Emirates for persons with disabilities, used across government communications. Both are true at once, and a presenter in Dubai or Abu Dhabi is not making a mistake by using their own country's official wording.
So handle it the way the guidelines handle the identity-first question. They note that some organizations of persons with disabilities choose not to use person-first language, and call that "a choice the UN would respect and not contest." [12] The rule follows: use the term your audience's own institution uses, say where the other term comes from, and put the United Nations table on a slide so the room sees the source.
A disability awareness training PPT: what to change for a staff session
A staff session is a different deck from an assembly, and four changes do most of the work. The emphasis moves from the day to your own organisation.
| Change | Why | On the slide |
|---|---|---|
| Lead with the Convention articles | Articles 9 and 27 name accessibility and work, which is what a staff room decides about [2] | Two article numbers, one sentence each |
| Swap the global slide for your commitments | A global percentage ends a discussion; your own commitment starts one | Three commitments, each with a date and an owner |
| Put the terminology table on screen | Wording is the part staff repeat in emails the next day [12] | Recommended column, six rows, the URL in the footer |
| Name the route for a request, not the answer | Accommodations are individual, and a deck decides none of them | Who to contact, in what form, what happens next |
What a staff session should not do is give advice. No medical content, no legal content, no statement about what any individual is entitled to, and no guess at who might need something. If you are building the session rather than the awareness piece, our training presentation guide covers the running order.
Making the deck itself accessible, including the contradiction in Microsoft's own instructions
One page of Microsoft's own documentation gives opposite reading-order instructions for Windows and macOS, and following the wrong one ships a deck that reads out backwards. The Windows section says a screen reader reads objects in the order they are listed in the Reading Order pane. The macOS section of the same page says they are read in the reverse of the order listed in the Selection Pane [17]. Both are correct for their own platform, and neither is safe on the other.
| Check | What the official page says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Reading order, Windows | Objects are read in the order listed in the Reading Order pane | Microsoft [17] |
| Reading order, macOS | Objects are read in the reverse of the order listed in the Selection Pane | Microsoft [17] |
| The checker | On the Review tab. It flags accessibility issues and runs automatically in the background in PowerPoint, but misses low contrast on text over a slide background | Microsoft [17] |
For the standard itself, print both dates. WCAG 2.2 carries the line "W3C Recommendation 12 December 2024" [15], while the Web Accessibility Initiative overview, updated on 17 September 2026, says it was published on 5 October 2023 with an update on 12 December 2024 [16]. That overview encourages the latest version, calls no version current, and says 2.2 does not replace 2.1 [16]. Microsoft prints no contrast ratio, so a ratio on your slide comes from the W3C [15] [17].
Alt text for the figures this deck will have
Alt text is where an awareness deck most often fails its own subject. Microsoft's guidance is short: describe what matters, keep it to a sentence or two, and do not open with a phrase referring to the image [18]. On a figure slide it carries the finding and the base rather than the chart type, so the WHO slide reads as 16% of the world's population, or 1 in 6, and never as a bar chart of disability data [17]. Our AI presentation accessibility review covers running the checker and what each flag means.
Symbols, logos and what you may reuse
No United Nations emblem, flag or logo for the Day goes on your slides, because no published guideline says you may put one there. The United Nations states that use of its emblem is "highly restricted" and "essentially limited to the organization's activities", and that you may not use any official emblem, flag or logo to imply an association or affiliation with it [14]. Commercial use of the emblem, name or initials is restricted by General Assembly resolution 92(I), adopted in 1946 [13].
| What | The rule on the official page | On your slide |
|---|---|---|
| The UN emblem | Highly restricted, essentially limited to the organization's activities; commercial use restricted by resolution 92(I) of 1946 [13] [14] | Leave it off. Name the United Nations in text |
| The UN flag | May be freely displayed to demonstrate support for the United Nations and its work, while the emblem rules stay in force [13] | Not on a company deck, where it reads as affiliation |
| A logo for the Day | No usage guideline exists. The observance page shows an image captioned as the logo with no rules attached, and the draft concept note carries none [2] [3] | Leave it off. No guideline is not permission |
What you may do is plenty. Say your organisation is marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December 2026, quote the official theme with the page it came from, and attribute every figure with its URL. Reproducing United Nations material needs prior written permission, and requests for the emblem go to permissions at un.org [14]. Keep a sponsor's logo on a different slide from any United Nations quotation, so the layout never implies an endorsement.
Twenty minutes on 3 December: a worked example
A fictional HR manager has a twenty-minute lunchtime slot, 240 staff and a mixed-nationality audience. Every number below is computed here or comes from the table above.
| Item | Inputs | Arithmetic | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talk length | 10 slides, timed in minutes | 2 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 20 | 20 minutes |
| Seats | 240 staff, 45% expected at lunchtime | 0.45 × 240 = 108 | 108 people, so 120 seats is enough |
| The base behind 16% | 1.3 billion, described as 16% of the world's population | 1.3 ÷ 0.16 = 8.125 | about 8.1 billion, the population the share implies |
| Twenty years | Adopted 13 December 2006, observed 3 December 2026 | 2026 − 2006 = 20 | 20 years since adoption |
| What 194 includes | 193 States plus the European Union | 193 + 1 = 194 | 194 parties, not 194 countries |
Her slide 4 reads: WHO estimates 1.3 billion people experience significant disability, 16% of the world's population. Its footer reads: base, the world's population; no data year stated by WHO; Global report published 2 December 2022; opened 2 November 2026. Slide 10 puts her company's wording beside the United Nations recommended column, so she picks no winner and the room sees both sources.
The third row is the one worth copying. Dividing 1.3 by 0.16 lands on about 8.1 billion, near enough the world's population, which is how she knows the base on her slide is right.
What this guide deliberately does not do
A deck for 3 December has a narrow job, and most of the damage here comes from a deck trying to do somebody else's. These are the lines we hold.
- No medical advice and no legal advice, no national law interpreted, no entitlement stated.
- No figure without its base, and the words no data year stated wherever the source gives none.
- No 2004 United States survey presented as current or global. The 35 against 78 pairing is named as what it is and never used [11].
- No 2026 theme other than the one on UN DESA's event page, and the 2025 theme is always labelled 2025 [1] [3].
- No UN emblem, UN flag or logo for the Day, in the article, in the figures or on a slide [13] [14].
- No verdict on terminology, and no month named for Disability Awareness Month: the date the United Nations sets is 3 December, and countries keep their own months [1] [3].
This page is also not a tool comparison. If a written report has to come out of the same work, our best AI for reports page scores eleven tools on printed rules, and our World AIDS Day presentation guide applies the same figure discipline to the other December awareness day.
What would change this guide
Three published pages would move it, and you can open all three yourself. We check all three again on 1 December 2026, two days before the Day.
- un.org/en/observances publishes the 2026 theme. The finding this page is built on is that it had not on 2 November 2026, when it still carried a heading reading Theme 2025 [3]. Once it catches up, the trap becomes a footnote and slide 1 can cite the page readers already check.
- WHO attaches a data year, publishes a newer estimate, or the 15 per cent reading on un.org is corrected. Three United Nations bodies print three versions today and none carries a data year [7] [9] [11]. Any one of those edits rewrites the figures table, the key numbers and slide 4.
- A final concept note replaces the draft, or a logo guideline is published. The note we read is headed as a draft and sets no logo rules, and neither does the observance page [2] [3]. Written permission would change the instruction to leave the emblem off, and only written permission would.
3 AI prompts for a disability awareness presentation
These work in NOXI and in most AI presentation tools. Replace the text in brackets, then check every figure the tool returns.
Finish a [20]-minute presentation for [a workplace session at a 240-person logistics firm in Dubai] marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Thursday 3 December 2026. Twelve slides: the day and the 2026 theme, The CRPD at 20: Building on Progress, Advancing the Future; twenty years of the Convention; the Convention in four facts; 1.3 billion people and 16% of the world's population; three World Health Organization comparisons, each against persons without disabilities; work; access as a right; our own commitments; the words we use; the words to avoid; making this deck accessible; sources with the date each page was opened. Put the base and the source in the footer of every slide with a number, write the words no data year stated where the source gives none, use persons with disabilities throughout, and add no United Nations emblem, flag or logo.
Make an [8]-minute version for a school assembly, pupils aged [11 to 16]. Keep six slides: the day and the theme; what the theme means; access as a right, with two Convention articles named; the words we use; the words to avoid; sources. Drop every comparison figure, keep each sentence short enough to be said once, and keep every image to ordinary everyday life with nobody portrayed as a burden or as superheroic.
Turn this into a silent loop for a [reception screen]: five slides, one headline and one line of detail each, type readable from [five] metres, and the base and the source in the footer of the one figure slide. Last slide: our contact route for an accessibility request, with who to write to and what happens next.
How to build a disability awareness presentation in NOXI
This is the one deck worth starting yourself. Write the slides only you can write, then let NOXI finish the rest in the same structure. NOXI is free, with no card and no watermark; uploads and exports need a free account, and a deck uses about 25 of the 1,000 credits an account gets each month.
Step 1: Write the first three slides by hand
Slide 1 is the day, the date and the theme with its source. Slide 2 is what twenty years of the Convention means in your own words. Slide 3 is your organisation's commitment, with a date and an owner. Those three set the tone every later slide copies.
Step 2: Choose Complete a draft and attach what you have
On the NOXI Home page choose Complete a draft and attach your three slides as PowerPoint, Word or PDF, up to 200 MB on a free account. A deck started from an attached file skips web research by default, so the on-slide source lines are off, which is why the next step matters here.
Step 3: Check the running order before the design
Read the twelve titles as a list and fix them there. Check that slide 1 carries the 2026 theme with the year beside it, that no slide carries the 2025 theme unlabelled, and that the figures match the table above. Fixing a list takes a minute; fixing twelve finished slides takes an evening.
Step 4: Put the base and the source on every figure slide
Because the research is off for a file-started deck, you write the footers. Ask in plain language: on slide 4, write WHO estimates 1.3 billion people experience significant disability, 16% of the world's population, and put the base, the report date of 2 December 2022 and the words no data year stated in the footer.
Step 5: Fix the words, and leave the symbols off
Ask for persons with disabilities throughout, with the United Nations recommended column on one slide and the avoid column on the next. Add your own logo and brand colour if you want them, and keep every United Nations emblem, flag and logo for the Day out of the deck.
Step 6: Share it for sign-off, then export and run the checker
Share a view-only link with your head of department, and invite a colleague as an editor if somebody else adds the contact route. Then download an editable PowerPoint with real text boxes and embedded fonts, or a PDF, and run the Accessibility Checker before you present.
If the same session has to run in a second language, our best AI for translation page scores eleven tools on documented rules, right-to-left support included.
Frequently asked questions
- What should a disability awareness presentation include?
- Twelve slides: the date and the 2026 theme with its source, twenty years of the Convention, the treaty in four facts, WHO's 1.3 billion and 16% with the report date, the daily-life comparisons with their bases, work, access, your own numbers, the words to use, the words to avoid, accessibility, and sources. Leave out medical and legal advice.
- Where can I find a disability awareness PPT I can trust?
- Build one rather than download one. Template sites carried the 2025 theme and a 2004 United States employment survey when we checked on 2 November 2026. Take the theme from UN DESA's 2026 event page, the headline figure from WHO, and the treaty counts from the United Nations Treaty Collection.
- When is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities?
- It is 3 December every year, and in 2026 that is a Thursday. UN DESA's event page gives the United Nations Headquarters commemoration as 3 December 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST, with registration closing on 16 November 2026 for anyone without a grounds pass.
- What is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2026 theme?
- UN DESA's own 2026 event page says the Day will be observed under the theme The CRPD at 20: Building on Progress, Advancing the Future. The draft concept note linked from that page carries the same wording. On 2 November 2026 the un.org observance page still showed only the 2025 theme.
- What goes in a disability inclusion presentation?
- The same facts, pointed at your own organisation. Keep the theme slide, the treaty slide and WHO's headline figure, then spend most of the time on what your organisation has committed to, with dates and owners. The UN guidelines table belongs on a slide, because the words are the part people repeat.
- Is World Disability Day the same day?
- Yes. World Disability Day is the common name for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which the United Nations observes on 3 December. The United Nations uses the longer name on every page, so cite it that way on your title slide and in your sources list.
- When is Disability Awareness Month?
- Disability Awareness Month has no single global date. Different countries and institutions keep different months, and the United Nations observance page sets a day rather than a month: 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Check the calendar your own audience keeps, then put that date on the slide.
- How many people live with disability worldwide?
- WHO estimates 1.3 billion people experience significant disability, about 16% of the world's population, or 1 in 6. WHO attaches no data year to the estimate, so cite the Global report published on 2 December 2022. A 15% version with 1 billion people is still live on un.org.
- Can I use the UN logo on my slides?
- No. The United Nations says use of its emblem is highly restricted and essentially limited to the organization's activities, and that you may not use its emblem, flag or logo to imply an association with the United Nations. There is no published logo guideline for the Day. Requests go to permissions at un.org.
- What words should I avoid?
- The UN's March 2022 communications guidelines recommend persons with disabilities and list handicapped, disabled person, special needs, differently abled, crippled, mentally ill and suffers from among terms to avoid. The same table lists people of determination, which is the official term of the United Arab Emirates, so use the wording your audience's own institution uses.
Sources & methodology
How this guide was made: every fact about the day, the treaty, the figures, the terminology and the symbols comes from an official United Nations, WHO, World Bank or ILO page, opened on 2 November 2026 with the times recorded in our working notes. Microsoft's and the W3C's pages are cited only for the accessibility mechanics of a slide file. The twelve-slide outline, the room cuts and the timings are editorial recommendations, not published standards. Nothing here is medical or legal advice, and nothing here is endorsed by or affiliated with the United Nations. Mariam Farouk and her firm are fictional.
- [1] The Day "will be observed on 3 December 2026 under the theme" "The CRPD at 20: Building on Progress, Advancing the Future."; the observance "marks the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention"; "Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 13 December 2006"; "Date: Thursday, 3 December 2026"; "Time: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST"; venue United Nations Headquarters, New York, with the specific venue to be confirmed; "Registration deadline: 16 November 2026" for anyone without a valid UN grounds pass · UN DESA, 2026 International Day of Persons with Disabilities event page.
- [2] "DRAFT CONCEPT NOTE"; the theme repeated under its own heading; "Venue: Trusteeship Council Chamber, United Nations Headquarters, New York"; "the CRPD marked a historic shift towards a human rights-based approach to disability"; "Nothing about us without us."; "With 193 States and the European Union having become parties"; two panels, on information accessibility and inclusive communication and on the creative economy; the relevant provisions, articles 9, 24, 25, 27, 29 and 30; organised by UN DESA through the Division for Inclusive Social Development · UN DESA, draft concept note for IDPD 2026 (PDF).
- [3] A heading reading "Theme 2025:" followed by "Fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress"; no 2026 theme anywhere on the page, and no match for the 2026 wording when the whole page was searched at 10:30 UTC on 2 November 2026; an image captioned as the logo of the Day, with no usage rules attached · United Nations, International Day of Persons with Disabilities observance page.
- [4] The 2024 theme, "Amplifying the Leadership of Persons with Disabilities for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future." · UN DESA, five things to know about the leadership of persons with disabilities (2 December 2024).
- [5] A status stamp reading "STATUS AS AT : 02-11-2026", followed by a clock time that is set when the page is served, so it differs between visits; "Signatories : 164"; "Parties : 194"; "New York, 13 December 2006" and adoption "by resolution A/RES/61/106"; open for signature by all States and by regional integration organizations "as of 30 March 2007"; "Entry into force : 3 May 2008, in accordance with article 45(1)."; "Registration : 3 May 2008, No. 44910" · United Nations Treaty Collection, Chapter IV.15, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- [6] Convention "Ratifications/Accessions: 194" and "Signatories*: 164"; Optional Protocol "Ratifications/Accessions: 110" and "Signatories*: 95"; the footnote that signatories include countries or regional integration organizations; "20th Anniversary of the adoption of CRPD: 2006 to 2026"; 82 signatories on the Convention's opening day, "the highest number of signatories in history to a UN Convention on its opening day" · UN DESA, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- [7] "An estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability."; "This represents 16% of the world's population, or 1 in 6 of us."; "Some persons with disabilities die up to 20 years earlier than those without disabilities."; twice the risk of developing conditions such as depression, asthma, diabetes, stroke, obesity or poor oral health; "Women with disabilities being 2 to 4 times more likely to experience intimate partner violence"; 15 times more difficulty with inaccessible and unaffordable transportation. Page date 7 March 2023 · World Health Organization, Disability fact sheet.
- [8] "An estimated 1.3 billion people, about 16% of the global population, currently experience significant disability."; "or 1 in 6 people worldwide"; the launch of "the Global Report on Health Equity for Persons with Disabilities on 2 December 2022"; "find inaccessible health facilities up to 6 times more hindering"; "are up to 15 times more limited by inaccessible and unaffordable transportation". No data year is attached to the estimate on any WHO page we opened · World Health Organization, Disability health topic.
- [9] "Over a billion people, or 16% of the world's population, are estimated to have a disability"; households with members with disabilities facing "higher poverty and lower employment rates than persons without disabilities", with no figure and no year; disability prevalence described as higher in developing countries · World Bank, Disability Inclusion.
- [10] "It is estimated that 16 per cent of the world's population, or more than 1 billion people, are persons with disabilities."; "About 80 per cent are of working age."; "Young persons with disabilities worldwide are twice as likely to be neither in employment, education nor training." No data year is given for any of the three · International Labour Organization, Disability and work.
- [11] The outlier reading, "Around 15 per cent of the world's population, or estimated 1 billion people, live with disabilities."; "A 2004 United States survey found that only 35 per cent of working-age persons with disabilities are in fact working, compared to 78 per cent of those without disabilities."; "Eighty per cent of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, according to the UN Development Programme." The page is undated, tags figures to WHO while printing figures WHO no longer uses, and cites non-official sources elsewhere, so everything on it is treated as historical · United Nations, Factsheet on persons with disabilities.
- [12] "In line with the CRPD, the UN uses person-first language."; "'Persons with disabilities' is the correct term, which does not need to be modified."; "Person-first language puts 'person' before 'disability'"; "Identity-first language, by contrast, switches word position"; "Some OPDs may also choose not to use person-first language", "a choice the UN would respect and not contest."; "Shift the focus to the person, rather than the impairment."; "Avoid ableist language. Do not use terms associated with persons with disabilities as adjectives."; the footnote "The CRPD refers to 'mental' impairment. The CRPD Committee now uses the term 'psychosocial' impairment."; the box listing the portrayals to avoid, including vulnerable or a burden on others, living a life of less value or quality, less than human, dangerous, and extraordinary or superheroic; Table 1, headed "APPROPRIATE AND PEJORATIVE LANGUAGE", with its recommended terms and terms to avoid columns, the avoid column including "people of determination". Title page dated March 2022; developed by the Department of Global Communications with the Disability Team in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, in consultation with the International Disability Alliance · United Nations, Disability-Inclusive Communications Guidelines (PDF, March 2022).
- [13] Use of the UN emblem, name or initials for commercial purposes "is restricted by General Assembly resolution 92(I)", which "was adopted in 1946"; "the UN emblem and seal could not be used without the authorization of the Secretary-General", a requirement that exists "in order to prevent its misuse."; "Although the UN flag may be freely displayed to demonstrate support for the UN and its work" · United Nations Visitor Centre, fact sheet on the UN flag (PDF).
- [14] "Use and display of the United Nations emblem is highly restricted"; "essentially limited to the organization's activities"; "You may not use any trademark, official mark, official emblem, flag or logo of the United Nations"; "to represent or imply an association or affiliation with the United Nations"; "Prior express written permission is required in order to reproduce, republish, mirror, or translate any material"; "Requests for the use of the UN emblem should be sent to permissions(at)un.org via email." · United Nations, Rights and permissions.
- [15] "W3C Recommendation 12 December 2024" · W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2.
- [16] "WCAG 2.2 was published on 5 October 2023, and an update was published on 12 December 2024."; "W3C encourages you to use the latest version of WCAG"; the statement that 2.2 does not replace 2.1, and no version described as current. Page marked "Updated: 17 September 2026" · W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, WCAG 2 overview.
- [17] "The Accessibility Checker is a tool that reviews your content and flags accessibility issues it comes across."; "In PowerPoint, the Accessibility Checker runs automatically in the background when you're creating a presentation."; the Windows instruction "it reads the objects in the order they are listed in the Reading Order pane" against the macOS instruction "Screen readers read the objects in the reverse of the order they are listed in the Selection Pane"; "It does not find insufficient color contrast in other cases such as text in a transparent text box or placeholder on top of the slide background"; "Alt text helps people who use screen readers to understand what's important in the visuals in your slides." · Microsoft, Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible.
- [18] "Do not repeat the surrounding textual content as alt text or use phrases referring to images, such as, 'a graphic of' or 'an image of.'"; the advice that alt text should not run longer than a sentence or two, and that a few thoughtfully selected words will usually do · Microsoft, Write effective alt text.
- [19] The disability hub listing "03 December 2026 2026 International Day Of Persons With Disabilities (IDPD)" with a time of 10:00am to 1:00pm, and carrying no theme text of its own; the host returned HTTP 200 at 10:30:05 UTC on 2 November 2026 after refusing two earlier automated requests · UN DESA, Disability issues hub.
Take the theme from the page dated 2026, put the base and the source under every figure, print the United Nations table rather than choosing a term for the room, and leave every emblem off. NOXI finishes the deck around the three slides only you can write.
