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

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ccess, process,

• cess, or
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re rememb ember er inform

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ation"

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

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eornot not ob

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COGNITIVE DISABILITIES

COGNITIVE DISABILITIES Devel elopm

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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

• l or mobil

ilit ity y (that t is is not not obviou ious) s) May have e po poor impu impulse se contr trol

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May be un e unable e to foll llow w di direc ecti tions

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due t e to po poor r short-term erm mem emor

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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,

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Avoid id, , or expl plai ain, n, el elec ecti tion

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ermin inology

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Making Voting Accessible

Absentee ballot Canvassing board Contests Legislation MVA Primary election Provisional ballot Ranked choice voting Remedial Unaffiliated Voter notification card Affiliate with a party Designate an agent Change parties Close of registrations Request deadline

Making Voting Accessible

Some words voters may not understand or find confusing

Disa sability ty et etiquett uette Tips ps On Intera eracti cting ng With th People With th Disa sabiliti ties es

Free e Downlo nload: ad: www.unit unitedspinal.org edspinal.org/pdf/Disab /pdf/Disabil ilityEtiq ityEtique uett tte.pd e.pdf

Scope

• pe of
• f th

the li e litera eracy cy pr proble

• blem

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

• 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

• ck

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

• 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 be been n ca cast t as as intended ended  Infor

• rmation

mation Tech echnol nology

• gy an

and Innovation ation Foundation undation (I (ITIF TIF ) ) htt ttp://e p://elec lections.iti tions.itif.org f.org

MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE

HTTP://ELECTIONS.ITIF.ORG

PLAIN LANGUAGE Gin inny Red edis ish and d Dana Chis isnell l (200 009) 9) de demons nstra trated ed the e crucia ucial l role e of pl plai ain l n lan angu guag age e in in ballot t in instructi uctions

• ns 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

• n e

every sin ingle le wor

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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  cut  run  play  make  light  set  hold  clear  give  draw  take  fall  pass  head  call  carry  charge  point  duck

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

• ral

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

• n

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 MAKING VOTING ACCESSIBLE

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

• rmation

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.thearc.org

www.Accessibleinfo.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

• ut a mouse

use, , us using ng the e keybo yboard d or most st assist stive e techn hnology

• logy,

 Incl cludes des an icon-base sed d search ch system  Provide ides s a shor

• rt

t descripti scription

• n 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?

• ns?

Swap ap Sho hop: p:

Ex Exchange change of f Ideas eas fr from m Sem eminar inar Attendee endees

UPCOMING RAAV SEMINARS

San Francisco………. 1/30/20 /30/2014 St.

• t. Loui

uis ………..……..2/13/2014 Seat attle tle ………………….3/7/2014 Was ashingt hington, n, DC DC …….3/18/2014 Mi Minnea neapolis polis …………..4/10/2014

To regis ister er go to www.ele electionce ctioncent nter er.org .org or comple lete the brochur ure registration gistration that t you receiv eived ed in the mail. il.