No 2020 candidates websites are fully accessible to the blind: review

None of the top candidates currently running for president have websites that are fully accessible for a blind person to navigate, according to a review by a Miami-based institute for the blind. 

The Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired conducted a review of campaign websites for the 20 Democratic candidates participating in the debates, as well as President Trump and his only GOP primary challenger, former Massachusetts governor William Feld.

“It makes a person furious. It makes me wonder why candidates talk about their concern for people with disabilities and yet out of ignorance, they have the sin of omission, of not considering this,” Miami Lighthouse CEO Virginia Jacko, a blind voter, told Time.

{mosads}The review graded accessibility for the blind on a score of 1 to 4, ranging from “not accessible” to “fully accessible.”

{mosads}The top four candidates in terms of accessibility were former Vice President Joe Biden, former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who each received a 3 for “mostly accessible.”

The review found Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to have the least accessible page, with a 2 rating. South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigeig (D) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) were just slightly ahead with a 2.11 accessibility rating.

The remaining candidates had a score falling somewhere between 2 and 3. 

Both Trump and Weld fell in the middle of Democrats on the accessibility scale, receiving a 2.67 score.

The report highlights the importance of website accessibility, calling it “this generation’s wheelchair ramp.”

“We cannot sit back while millions of Americans are shut out of a key part of life. Most of them are voters who want to know more about the candidates and their proposed policies. If they cannot access their platforms and beliefs, they are short-changed when it comes to making an informed voting decision,” the report says.