PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Elections: Visual Impairment (19 November 2018)

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Government’s Response to the Call for Evidence on Access to Elections published 30 August 2018, whether he can provide an update on the progress of the Accessibility Working Group's consideration of the viability of sending out electoral information by electronic means to blind and partially-sighted people.

Asked by:
Marsha De Cordova (Labour)

The Government chaired Accessibility of Elections Working Group is considering how the actions contained in the Government’s response to the Call for Evidence on Access to Elections to improve the accessibility of elections can be delivered, including testing the additional sending of information from poll cards by electronic means to disabled people who request this service.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and the Royal Society for Blind Children, which are members of the Working Group, are providing insight on the particular requirements for blind and partially sighted people. Feedback from two authorities that have used email to send out poll card information at recent elections is currently being reviewed.

Answered by:
Chloe Smith (Conservative)
26 November 2018