SNP and Labour have widest range of accessible manifestos for people with disabilities

The SNP and Scottish Labour top the list for having manifestos available in the widest range of formats for people with disabilities, the One in Five campaign has reported.

The campaign has produced a manifesto report card on the accessibility of the main political parties’ manifestos.

Suggested formats include braille and large print for people with visual impairments, easy read for people with learning disabilities and British Sign Language (BSL) videos for people with hearing impairments.

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The Labour and SNP manifestos are available in audio, braille, BSL video, BSL video with subtitles, easy read, large print and plain text.

The Conservatives, Lib Dems, Greens and RISE also made their manifestos available in several accessible formats.

The One in Five campaign aims to increase political participation among disabled people in Scotland.

Since the campaign’s launch just over a year ago, six of the main parties have signed up to the One in Five Charter, which includes a commitment to produce campaign material in a variety of formats.

UKIP has not signed the charter and did not make its manifesto available in any alternative formats.

A One in Five spokesperson said: “We are delighted to see an array of accessible manifestos from across the political spectrum.

“This is the first Scottish Parliament election since the main political parties signed our charter committing to make politics more accessible to disabled people.

“In recent weeks, the parties have shown a willingness to engage with us, seeking advice in order to maximise their own support.

“Whilst cost and underestimating the time it takes to produce accessible manifestos were the most common obstacles, we now have a minimum standard for each party for future elections.”