[NFBP-Talk] Fwd: [tech-vi Announce List] Because every vote counts: making elections more accessible - Microsoft On the Issues

[Jan Lattuca]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Goldfield <david.goldfield at outlook.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2022 19:28:51 +0000
Subject: [tech-vi Announce List] Because every vote counts: making
elections more accessible - Microsoft On the Issues
To: List <tech-vi at groups.io>


https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2022/09/12/disability-voting-rights-week-index/

Because every vote counts: making elections more accessible
Sep 12, 2022
[a wheelchair user casts their vote]

According to data released earlier this month, an estimated 1.95
million people with disabilities had trouble voting in the 2020
election. Today marks the beginning of Disability Voting Rights Week
2022<https://www.aapd.com/advocacy/voting/dvrw/>, an annual effort
coordinated by the American Association of People with Disabilities
(AAPD) to make sure disabled voters in every community across the
country are registered, ready to vote and have access to the ballot.
Additionally, it’s a day to engage with candidates and community
leaders on issues impacting people with disabilities and to discuss
better accessibility inclusion programs.

Today, the Microsoft
Accessibility<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/approach>
and Democracy Forward<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/democracy-forward>
teams also celebrate the launch of the Center for Civic
Design<https://civicdesign.org/>s’ Disability Voting
Index<https://accessiblevoting.net/>. This new tool offers a single,
centralized location that makes it easy to quickly search and
understand accessibility options in all 50 states so that more people
with disabilities can participate in the electoral process.

At Microsoft, this work is a direct result of listening to, and
working closely with, disability communities to understand specific
challenges and what was needed to garner greater civil society
participation. We gauged the availability and accessibility of
election information in all 50 states, plus DC, during an equitable
Microsoft Global Hackathon by combing all 51 state election websites
to see what information was available, how easy it was to find and if
the website passed a basic accessibility check. What we found
reflected what our partners in the community have been saying –
information about accessible voting was very hard to find.

We are thrilled that the launch takes place during Disability Voting
Rights Week. While nearly 62% of people with disabilities voted in
2020, up from 56% in 2016, finding accurate voting information can
still be a challenging process for these populations. Currently, every
state not only has different rules and options, searching for voting
information can vary greatly based on terminology and location.
Twenty-one states had info pages using the term “voters with
disability,” 16 used “accessible voting” and 11 states had no
dedicated page whatsoever. The Disability Voting Index is the first
step to solving this problem.

Collectively, we plan to continue to update the site to expand its
comprehensiveness and utility. Currently, it provides in-depth
information describing the available resources for voting in each
state. It also provides information on rights for a voter with a
disability, vote by mail, in-person election day voting details, as
well as, where applicable, descriptions of the types of voting
machines in use (at one’s polling location) with links to
instructional videos. We recognize that state laws affecting the 2024
general election are still changing, and we will continue to monitor
and update the website as they are amended.

In the future, we’re hopeful this initiative continues to grow and
provide the basis for evaluating not just what accessible options are
available, but how well they serve their intended audiences. We also
hope to enable quantitative and qualitative performance evaluations in
order to spur innovation and more rapid adoption of effective
techniques, analogous to the Elections Performance
Index<https://elections.mit.edu/#/> but with a focus on accessibility.

Join us in celebrating Disability Voting Rights Week as we continue to
raise the disability voice and increase civic participation across the
country in 2022 and beyond.

Editor’s Note: 12:10PM PT: The blog has been updated for accuracy.

Tags: Accessibility<https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/tag/accessibility/>,
Democracy<https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/tag/democracy/>,
disability<https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/tag/disability/>,
elections<https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/tag/elections/>


     David Goldfield
Assistive Technology Specialist

Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.info


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