This index was designed to show countries how their civil rights and equality stacks up in comparison to other countries, as well as areas to improve upon. In addition, it is publicly available so that international travelers, tourists, and businesspeople can know which countries are more likely to value their liberties based on various factors. The breakdown is as follows:
Racial Equality Score: 0-125
Gender Equality Score: 0-125
Disability Score: 0-125
LGBTQ Equality Score: 0-125 (Sexuality Subscore: 0-65, Gender Identity Subscore: 0-60)
Economic Score: 0-125 (Economic Parity Subscore: 0-70, Economic Opportunity Subscore: 0-55)
Political Freedom Score: 0-125
Immigration Opportunity Score: 0-100
Cultural Integrity Score: 0-100
Non-Resident Score: 0-50
Overall Score: 0-1000
While a higher overall score generally indicates a more fair, equal, and inclusive society as a whole, individual subscores will also be published (though not ranked) for specificity. A nation may rank highly in other areas, but treat its disabled citizens poorly, so while the overall score will be high, giving the nation a higher rank, the international community will still know of their shortcomings.
Of course, the organization responsible for the ICEI recognizes that authoritarian governments may use this index as a means to find more methods to exert control over its populace, but believes the index will do more good than harm. Any scores not filled out will be scored as a 0, thus lowering the overall score, though a note will be made in the record which scores were not able to be calculated. Note that this index also isn't indicative of quality of life, which is better measured by the Human Development Index, but rather equality of life. While a nation may score very highly on this index, they may underperform on other indices, such as the Democracy Index or the Economic Liberalization Index. Likewise, a nation that scores low on this index may score high on other indices.