Technology can be used by election management bodies (EMBs) to reach voters in special needs groups. Such special needs groups include people with physical disabilities or mental disabilities, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people in remote areas and people with poor literacy skills.
Audio visual applications
Radio, television, audio and video tapes, as well as some of the more specialised communication devices used by language services, hearing assistance and visual assistance, can be used to reach voters with special needs. In particular, methods that use audio and/or visual recordings meet many of the needs of people who have difficulty reading or understanding printed material. Some of these technologies, particularly audio tapes and video tapes, may be used to directly target special needs groups.
Language interpretation and translation services
Technology can also be used to communicate with voters in a wide variety of different languages. While several software packages exist that can automatically translate material into a variety of languages, EMBs need to exercise extreme caution if they opt to use these programs because the output needs extended correction, editing and proof reading. The relative complexity and specialized nature of electoral communication can often add to the translation difficulty, but it is very important to ensure that the messages are communicated correctly.
Electoral material in a range of languages can be made available in printed media, in audio visual form, through an automated phone service and electronically on a web site or directly in an electronic voting system. Public broadcast radio in a variety of languages is another effective form of communication, where such services are popular. This ability to reach voters in several languages is particularly useful in a society where significantly large numbers of people speak one or more languages other than the dominant official language.
Automated telephone information systems can also provide information in a range of languages.
Interpreter services in some countries can also be provided by telephone, including three-way conference calls involving the caller, the interpreter, and a person able to answer the inquiry.
An EMB can make use of these telephone interpreter services to complement the telephone information service provided and include the telephone number of the interpreter service with relevant instructions for its use on the EMB public information publication material.
Hearing assistance
Technology can also be used to assist people with hearing disabilities. In addition to personal hearing aid devices, telephones can be fitted with hearing assistance features that amplify sounds for persons using the telephone to access information inquiry lines.
Visual assistance
Technology can be used to assist people with impaired vision. Some countries provide magnification devices in voting places for use by vision impaired people when marking their ballot papers. An example is the plastic or glass magnifying screen fixed above the writing surface in use at Western Australian State voting sites.
Where electoral information is available to voters on computer screens, the software can be programmed to magnify or zoom in on text and images to make them easier to read by vision impaired people. Similarly, printed material can be created using large point sizes for vision impaired people.
As a general rule, whenever printed material is made available in hardcopy or electronic form, an EMB needs to consider the people who have difficulty reading small print. Adopted fonts and standard point sizes should maximise the number of people able to read them. The same care should also be taken when choosing fonts for printing or displaying text since some fonts are much easier to read than others.
Considerable research has been conducted on font readability, and it is good practice to consult experts in this field when choosing fonts for publications targeting large groups of people, including ones with special needs.
