Civic Participation Online - accessible success
Project
The project included the development of a guideline for the implementation of accessible online participation tools.
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Aim of the project
Due to the German federal government’s signature on/of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2007) and the planned measures of the national action plan, the area of action of political involvement for persons with disabilities has become a matter of high priority. The easily accessible approach to e-government offers was further declared a political objective in the national e-government plan from 24.09.2010.
In order to exactly determine the extent of existing barriers that prevent equal opportunities in political education for all citizens, a review of the usability and acceptance of a number of chosen tools for online participation was conducted. This project was meant to present a first overview of exemplary tools for online participation in reference to their barrier-free approach according to BIT-V 2.0 and with regard to their suitability for increasing civic participation and the inducement of citizen’s votes (Bürgervoten), especially in regard to the participation of persons with disabilities. The project included the development of a guideline for the implementation of accessible online participation tools.
The Digital Opportunities Foundation was responsible for the project. The foundation assumed responsibility for the general coordination and the task area accessibility, as well as the preparation and organisation of planned events. The Institute for Information Management Bremen (ifib) was project partner and took care of the task area assessment and evaluation of participation processes from a social and political perspective.