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   Parties produce accessible manifestos
All three of the main political parties have produced accessible manifestos in the run up to election, helping engage with the 500,000 people with learning disabilities who are not voting
The release of the manifestos follows extensive campaigning by disability charities United Response, Mencap, and many others, to make democracy more inclusive. This is the first time all the main parties have reached out to the million or more people with learning disabilities in England, by producing full manifestos which use simple and straightforward language, avoid jargon and small print, and employ visual aids. The Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties produced the "easy read" versions of their election manifestos in collaboration with Mencap's in-house experts. In January, United Response launched its "Every Vote Counts" campaign (www.everyvotecounts.org.uk) in the Houses of Parliament, in an event attended by more than 100 political decision makers, including 30 MPs representing all the main parties. A report was published which showed that as few as 16 per cent of people with learning disabilities who were registered to vote actually did so in the last election, compared with a national turnout of 61 per cent. Key barriers were a lack of "easy read" information about candidates and policies, the complexity of the voting process and low awareness of the right of people with learning disabilities to vote. The report was the culmination of a three year project funded by the Electoral Commission. United Response created, produced and distributed more than 2000 accessible guides to democracy for people with learning disabilities. 1000 guides were also produced for politicians who hoped to make their own materials more accessible. The report included case studies of people's democratic experiences, and a series of recommendations for political parties. Most significantly, it called for voter turnout among people with learning disabilities to increase to at least 40 per cent and for all main political parties to provide accessible manifestos. "We are delighted that politicians have heard the message and acted on it, and started to open democracy up to people with learning disabilities," said Su Sayer, chief executive of United Response. "People with learning disabilities are affected by decisions made at a national and local level in the same way as everyone else, perhaps more so. "Yet information about the democratic process is often presented in a way which is confusing and full of jargon. "Mencap and the three main parties should be congratulated for this achievement, which is an exciting first step towards a democracy which is open to all." Mark, aged 20, from Greater Manchester, has physical and learning disabilities. "People with learning disabilities should get a chance to vote because everyone else gets to. Everyone should have a say in how the country is run. People should definitely vote if they want things to change." He said. Due to his age, Mark hasn't voted in an election before and hadn't given voting in 2010 much thought until he learnt about Every Vote Counts and began to see how politics affects him: "I was too young to vote at the last general election and voting is not something that has really taken my interest before, but I can now see through Every Vote Counts why it is important." Source: epolitix.com Copyright Dod's Parliamentary Communications Ltd
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