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Accessible Voting – The Blind Information


Do you vote routinely? Each election? Simply Presidential election years? No matter your conduct, votng is one in every of our most necessary rights. It’s a proper that varies dramatically internationally. And that’s even simply in democracies. Girls’s suffrage is much from a common proper. In different circumstances, there could also be discrimination towards sure religions. Or different variations.

Take a look at the What Voting Rights Look Like in 6 International locations Across the World article below Sources. We dwell in a extremely politicized setting. Please learn this text for instance of the variation in practices in several international locations. Not as a political commentary favoring one group vs. one other.

Issues We Take For Granted

If you’re a sighted US citizen, I wager you’re taking voting with no consideration. I’m not suggesting your stage of engagement, solely that you simply assume it’s an inalienable proper. Should you’re blind, accessible voting is probably not a given.

Let me clarify with an instance from my previous. A variety of years in the past, I used to be working with a startup creating beaconless indoor navigation. The staff included some good robocists and machine imaginative and prescient engineers. As our prototype advanced, we started to check the know-how with individuals who had been blind or visually impaired.

One of many testers requested if the know-how would learn the billboards and different promoting supplies within the subway concourse the place we had been testing. Misunderstanding his intent, I shortly stated you’d most likely hear promoting within the free model. However the paid model would allow you to filter out the advertising and marketing. The particular person stated:

Should you’re sighted, you most likely ignore the “annoying” billboards. Should you’ve misplaced your sight, you might miss those self same billboards.

Accessible Voting In 2024

I’m deliberately making this a brief submit as I need you to learn an exquisite submit about accessible voting in 2024. I’m together with the next excerpt to whet your urge for food and would strongly encourage you to learn your complete article (see Sources beneath).

Accessible Voting – The Blind Information
Accessible voting must be an inalienable proper however is it? All too usually the reply is No.

“A variety of Blind and print-disabled voters have inquired about accessible voting of their states over time. Please remember that varied federal legal guidelines require voting to be accessible to voters with disabilities, essentially the most related being the Assist America Vote Act of 2002 (“HAVA”). Amongst different issues, HAVA requires accessible poll marking units to be usable in any respect polling places. There are a number of such units counties can select from, all of which come outfitted with screen-readers, headphones, and tactile controls.”

“Sadly, ballot staff usually lack coaching in such units, the units aren’t plugged in, are malfunctioning, and so forth. We who depend on these choices have plenty of choices when accessible poll marking units aren’t prepared for us after we arrive.”

Unbiased Voting

One other side to accessible voting is the concept of independence. As with so many different issues, one path to accessibility is leveraging the eyes of a caregiver or buddy. That works, however is a burden on the buddy. Additionally it is the other of true independence. Know-how can allow independence as I highlighted on this submit concerning the OrCam know-how.

Sources

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