Disability Action Northern Ireland) evaluated the extent to which the political parties made their manifesto/campaign material accessible to persons with disabilities. In Scotland, Capability Scotland supplemented the findings of the survey on the polling day, by requesting the manifesto materials in alternative formats from the main political parties. The results were as follows: 3 disabled people requested the manifesto in their preferred format: audio, easy read and large print. Conservative Party provided manifestos in each of the formats requested within 2 weeks. Labour provided their manifesto on audio CD and in large print within 2 weeks. The Liberal Democrats provided an easy-read manifesto within 2 weeks. However: Labour sent out a flyer to a disabled voter instead of supplying an easy-read version as requested. The Greens and the Scottish National Party failed to provide their manifestos in alternative formats on request to disabled voters. The Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the Scottish National Party do not anticipate the needs of disabled voters by preparing manifestos in alternative formats in advance. In Northern Ireland, Disability Action Northern Ireland audited the election information material for accessibility. For the Party Election Materials none of the printed materials provided by political parties met all the requirements of the audit. Details of the results of the audit are available on the Disability Action website. For other information, the following outlines the findings of the audit: Audio Large Print - Only three of the five parties contacted were able to send information in the format requested. One party also had a large print version available for download on their website. Audio CD – a gap identified was that audio versions are often only available upon request which means that people often are not aware of its availability. The RNIB attempted to address this gap by approaching the political parties and asking for them to contribute to an audio CD which as then distributed to a mailing list of people who usually receive information in audio format.
Disability Action Northern Ireland) evaluated the extent to which the political parties made their manifesto/campaign material accessible to persons with disabilities. In Scotland, Capability Scotland supplemented the findings of the survey on the polling day, by requesting the manifesto materials in alternative formats from the main political parties. The results were as follows: 3 disabled people requested the manifesto in their preferred format: audio, easy read and large print. Conservative Party provided manifestos in each of the formats requested within 2 weeks. Labour provided their manifesto on audio CD and in large print within 2 weeks. The Liberal Democrats provided an easy-read manifesto within 2 weeks. However: Labour sent out a flyer to a disabled voter instead of supplying an easy-read version as requested. The Greens and the Scottish National Party failed to provide their manifestos in alternative formats on request to disabled voters. The Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the Scottish National Party do not anticipate the needs of disabled voters by preparing manifestos in alternative formats in advance. In Northern Ireland, Disability Action Northern Ireland audited the election information material for accessibility. For the Party Election Materials none of the printed materials provided by political parties met all the requirements of the audit. Details of the results of the audit are available on the Disability Action website. For other information, the following outlines the findings of the audit: Audio Large Print - Only three of the five parties contacted were able to send information in the format requested. One party also had a large print version available for download on their website. Audio CD – a gap identified was that audio versions are often only available upon request which means that people often are not aware of its availability. The RNIB attempted to address this gap by approaching the political parties and asking for them to contribute to an audio CD which as then distributed to a mailing list of people who usually receive information in audio format.
political-participation-persons-disabilities-uk.docx