Accessibility and language access

What it requires

Voters with disabilities and voters who read other languages receive the same information in forms they can use. Four criteria make up this standard.

Accessibility statement

A public statement names the conformance target (WCAG 2.2 Level AA or an equivalent), lists known gaps and the plan to close them, and gives a contact for accommodation requests with a response time.

Required language versions

Key pages (how to register, how to vote, key dates, ID requirements, polling places) exist as full translations in every language the jurisdiction is required to serve. A machine-translation widget may supplement, but does not satisfy, this criterion.

Accessible voting options

The site describes curbside voting, accessible voting machines at every polling place, the right to bring an assistant, and how to request a ballot in large print, braille, or audio.

Usable on mobile and without PDFs

Core information is readable on a phone without zooming or horizontal scrolling, and is available as HTML. PDFs may be offered in addition, never instead.

Why it matters

About one in four adults lives with a disability, and election information is often the first point of failure: a scanned PDF that a screen reader cannot parse, a color-only legend, a lookup form without labels. Language access is a legal obligation in covered jurisdictions and a practical one everywhere else, since partial translations send voters to unofficial sources. Mobile matters because a large share of voters, especially younger and lower-income voters, reach the site only by phone.

How to implement

1. Audit against WCAG 2.2 AA with an automated tool and a manual pass (keyboard-only navigation, screen reader on the top ten pages, 200% zoom).
2. Publish the statement with the date of the last audit, the gaps found, and the fix timeline. Update it each cycle.
3. Translate the key pages professionally and keep translations in sync with a change log. Link languages from the header, by language name in that language.
4. Describe accessible voting on its own page and in the polling place lookup results.
5. Convert PDF-only content to HTML. Start with the key-dates table, ID rules, and sample ballots.

Examples

Meets the standard. "Accessibility at Example County Elections" states WCAG 2.2 AA, lists two known issues with target dates, and gives a phone and email with a two-business-day response. The header offers English, Español, and Tiếng Việt as full site versions. The polling place page describes curbside voting and the accessible ballot-marking device.

Partial. A statement exists but names no standard or contact. Only the home page is translated; the rest relies on a widget.

Incomplete. No statement. Spanish content limited to a PDF from a prior cycle.

Snippets

Accessibility statement (template):

Language versions declared in the page head: