November 12, 2013 Presented by: Tim Mattice Election Center - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Chicago RAAV Seminar November 12, 2013 Presented by: Tim Mattice Election Center

COGNITIVE DISABILITIES "a "a disability disability th that t impacts pacts an n individual dividual's 's ability ility to o access, ccess, process, ocess, or or re rememb ember er inform ormation" ation"

COGNITIVE DISABILITIES READIN DING, G, LING NGUISTI ISTIC, C, AND ND VERB RBAL AL COMP MPREH REHENS ENSION ION Fors omep eople, reading text canbeq uitea challenge. Becar eful notto maketh ings evenhar derby relying on non-lit eral commun ication anduns tated assump tions.

COGNITIVE DISABILITIES Tob ob eor eornot not ob obe

COGNITIVE DISABILITIES Devel elopm opmen enta tal l Dis isabil ilit ity  Speak ak to the person son in clear r sent ntenc ences es  Don’t use baby talk or talk down to people  The person son is an adult lt and can make e his/h s/her er own decisions sions Person son may y be be anx nxious ious to please se   May be diffic icult ult to make e a quick k decision sion

COGNITIVE DISABILITIES Traumatic atic (or acquir uired ed brain in in inju jury)  May have e loss of muscl scle e contr trol ol or mobil ilit ity y (that t is is not not obviou ious) s)  May have e po poor impu impulse se contr trol ol  May be un e unable e to foll llow w di direc ecti tions ons du due t e to po poor r short-term erm mem emor ory

Making Voting Accessible Guide delines:  Spe peak di direc ectly ly to the e voter er,  Use w e words ds voters s unde derstand, d,  Writ ite e in in an an activ ive e voic ice e to hel elp p voter ers s use e the e in informa rmati tion, on,  Avoid id, , or expl plai ain, n, el elec ecti tion on ter ermin inology ology

Making Voting Accessible Some words voters may not understand or find confusing Absentee ballot Remedial Canvassing board Unaffiliated Contests Voter notification card Legislation Affiliate with a party MVA Designate an agent Primary election Change parties Provisional ballot Close of registrations Ranked choice voting Request deadline

Free e Downlo nload: ad: www.unit unitedspinal.org edspinal.org/pdf/Disab /pdf/Disabil ilityEtiq ityEtique uett tte.pd e.pdf Disa sability ty et etiquett uette Tips ps On Intera eracti cting ng With th People With th Disa sabiliti ties es

Making Voting Accessible Scope ope of of th the li e litera eracy cy pr proble oblem 23% 3% of ad adults lts in th the e U.S. S. ha have e lo low w li liter eracy acy co compe petency ency skills lls 43% 3% of ad adults lts in th the e U.S. S. read ad at at th the e ? gr grad ade e le level el Two o out t of ever ery y five e older lder users s read ad at at th the ? grad ade e le level el

Making Voting Accessible READERS WITH LOWER LITERACY SKILLS… • Inter erpre pret t words ds and visuals als lit iterally erally • Read d slowly wly, , missi ssing ng meaning ning • Skip ip over r hard d words ds • Miss s the context t – jump right ght in • May have difficulty culty seeing ing principa cipal l features tures • Tire re quickly ly and may give e up easil ily

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE exit it  next ever ery  ver ery simpl imple  smi smile spr prout ut  po pour ured ed van an  have roam am  more more di dim  made de yea ears  yours value e  volum ume e afraid id  after er in include de  loca locati ting agr gree ee  argue gue lord d  rod spe peed ed  sleep cork k  cloc ock text  next

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE READERS WITH HIGHER LITERACY SKILLS READING ON THE WEB…  Pref efer er information rmation that at looks ks easy to read throug ugh  Pref efer er information rmation that at get ets s to the point nt  May skip ip over r long g blocks ks of text xt  Are overload rloaded ed with h information rmation and may y not take e time me to read d length gthy text xt  Appre reciat ciate e having ng un unfamiliar miliar term rms s and nd conc ncepts pts put ut int nto o plain n language guage

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE HOW DOES THIS AFFECT VOTING?  Literacy acy issues ues af affect ect prepa paration ration to vote, e, th the ac act t of voting, ting, an and co confide idence nce th that at th the e vote e ha has been be n ca cast t as as intended ended  Infor ormation mation Tech echnol nology ogy an and Innovation ation Foundation undation (I (ITIF TIF ) ) htt ttp://e p://elec lections.iti tions.itif.org f.org

HTTP://ELECTIONS.ITIF.ORG

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE Gin inny Red edis ish and d Dana Chis isnell l (200 009) 9) PLAIN LANGUAGE demons de nstra trated ed the e crucia ucial l role e of pl plai ain l n lan angu guag age e in ballot in t in instructi uctions ons for r succ cces essful sful votin ing. g. In t thei eir tes estin ing, g, they found und that t pa partic icip ipants ts wit ith lower er lit iter eracy cy ten ende ded d to act ct on on e every sin ingle le wor ord Fie ield ld G Gui uide des: ci civic icde desi signi ning ng.org .org/fie ield ldgui uides des

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE MAKING IT PLAIN: ELIMINATING AMBIGUOUS WORDS  break  clear  carry  cut  give  charge  run  draw  point  play  take  duck  make  fall  light  pass  set  head  hold  call

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE MAKING IT PLAIN Language guage tweaks ks that t impact acted ed voter r success: ess:  Reducing election jargon Caucus us Elec ector oral al College lege Ge Genera neral l Election ection Polit litica ical l Action ion Comm mmit ittee ee Prim imar ary Election ection Writ ite-in in Candid didat ate e Affiliation liation Ballo lot Candid didat ate e Nominati ination on Poll ll

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE MAKING IT PLAIN Language guage tweaks ks that t impact acted ed voter r success: ess:  Reducing the amount of text on key screens

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE BUTTON TEXT Severa eral l parti ticip cipant ants struggled ruggled with the “see additional candidates” button To ease use  Text was simplified  Jargon was eliminated

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE REVIEW SCREEN TEXT After noting confusion from users, text on the review screen was changed: “ You could have voted for 4 candidates and you only voted for 2” Became “ You voted for 2 people. You can vote for 2 more.” The change reduced election jargon • • focused on actions • moved from familiar to new

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE CAST YOUR BALLOT Participants were confused and sometimes anxious about this page; they backed away from casting their vote. Focusing the text on the message and the choice, rather than on the danger of making a mistake, allowed for easier processing and more confidence in voting.

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE PLAIN LANGUAGE FINDINGS Min inim imal text, , short t sen enten ence ces Spe pecif ific, ic, concre crete, e, famil ilia iar r words ds No ja jargo gon Lar arge ge type pe-siz ize

Accessible ccessible votin ting g is ab about ut mo more th than an voting ting ma mach chines, ines, it t inclu clude des s : physical ysical acc ccess, ess, integra egration tion wi with th individual ividual voter ers' s' as assistiv stive e technology chnology, , an and informa ormation tion avai aila lable ble in la language uage an and forma mats ts th that at me meet et th the e needs eeds of al all. l.

www.Accessibleinfo.org www.thearc.org

www.Accessibleinfo.org

Current Projects

www.accessiblevoting.org

USABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY Bui uilt in several eral access essibi ibility lity features tures:  “Listen” buttons on every page,  fa fairly ly large e print, t, high h contra ntrast st,  all all of the e original inal text xt in clear ar and simple le language, ge,  us use the e site e with thout out a mouse use, , us using ng the e keybo yboard d or most st assist stive e techn hnology ology,  Incl cludes des an icon-base sed d search ch system  Provide ides s a shor ort t descripti scription on of ever ery y item em in clear r and simple le language. ge.

1 2

Documents related to Polling Places

1 2

Web Links related to Laws

1 2

Videos related to training

Creating Clear and Simple Language

EVENTS

PROJECT NEWS

HOW TO USE THIS SITE

Tra ranslation nslation Stu tudy dy

Pr Practical actical App pplication lications s Open pen Di Discussion: scussion: Wh What at Can an We e Do to Impr prove Accessibility ccessibility for El Electi ctions? ons?

Swap ap Sho hop: p: Ex Exchange change of f Ideas eas fr from m Sem eminar inar Attendee endees