Having a continuous telematic window open into Civic Participation!
Telematic applications could make voting in elections fairer and easier and further the effort to make civic participation truly equally available to people with and without disabilities
Arizona pioneered the use of the Internet for voting during the 2000 elections. Since then, much progress has been made on such matters as security and voter authentication. Yet, many polling places remain inaccessible for people with mobility limitations. Barriers in transportation and communication limit participation by people with disabilities in civic activities of all kinds.
Broadband and Electronic Voting options would increase participation in elections by individuals for whom traveling from home to a polling place is difficult or impossible. Meanwhile, speech recognition, with or without video streaming of interpreting, would make town meetings and other public events accessible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Similarly, protocol conversion could render printed documents into synthesized speech for individuals who are blind.
