I'd love to continue my series on A New Year, A New Michigan, A New You by focusing on the State Senate, but if only the Senate website would let me do it.
Unfortunately, the way that the Senate website is set up is not user-friendly. Navigating in and around the website is difficult. The way that the Senate website is set up, you cannot click on the different features and have a separate address (link) for each feature. Most of the features that are provided by the website are featured on the top, and include info about the Senate, committee information, Senate rules, employment, legislative links, Senate TV, and the kids page.
It wouldn't be noticeable to most people, because it all looks the same as you navigate within the site. Because linking directly to specific pages within the website is impossible for people like you and I, it's even more difficult for those with disabilities. According to a source within the Commission for the Blind, a blind person using a text reader would definitely not be able to link directly to a page within the Senate website.
Being a health and disability advocate for many years, I have a serious problem with this. Two things should be inherent within our government - transparency and accessibility. The two go hand-in-hand, and without one, you cannot have the other.
Not to be one to just ring and run, I called the Senate and after pointing out the inaccessibility, I asked when they thought it might be fixed. I was told that they are aware of the problem, but that there is no immediate time line and the hope is for it to be fixed by June.
I'm glad that they are aware of the problem, but is June really soon enough?
If you're interested in addressing this problem, you can contact your senator, or you can call the Senate directly and ask them to prioritize this project. Their number is 517.373.2400.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment