Improving Legislative Accessibility (BR0122)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? The lack of accessibility to public spaces and services is a problem experienced mainly by people with disabilities and/or reduced mobility. This barrier, although significant in itself, entails other barriers, such as the difficulty in accessing information produced by federal, state or municipal public bodies, which has a negative impact on the participation of this group in activities and initiatives of interest. In terms of access to information, to the flaws in public bodies’ structures, which hinder data search, access and consumption, are added a lack of uniformity and concern regarding the disclosure of information in accessible formats. With regard to people with disabilities, there is also a lack of concern for compliance with legislation, which reinforces an institutional culture that often neglects the importance of accessibility. Although several institutions are currently already engaged with the introduction of assistive technologies in work processes and offer information access mechanisms, such as an interpreter of Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) and language improvement in content production, such as using the hashtag “pracegover” (“fortheblindtosee”), these capabilities still need to be enhanced. Considering the particularities of the Legislative, which is present in all federative entities through its federal, state and municipal bodies, such as the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, the state assemblies and, especially, the thousands of municipal chambers across the country, with their varying structures that reflect geographic and cultural inequalities, solving accessibility problems becomes a substantial challenge. Therefore, this commitment aims to address this issue, with a view to guaranteeing the rights of people with disabilities and promoting accessibility to these important decision-making bodies. In this regard, the commitment aims to seek solutions to the lack of accessible service channels, such as Ombudsman’s Offices and the 0800 phone service, as well as address the need to improve social participation tools (e-Democracy and eCitizenship), in order to enhance the capability of communicating with the general public, particularly with people with disabilities.

What is the commitment? The commitment consists of implementing accessibility actions in three areas: training, communication and technological resources, in order to improve accessibility for people with disabilities and/or reduced mobility in the Legislative, with a focus on training actors and adapting processes and procedures to enhance transparency, social participation and political incidence in meetings, sessions, audiences, seminars, conferences, videoconferences, workshops, courses, lectures and speeches.

How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem? There are ongoing initiatives aimed at promoting accessibility for people with disabilities and/or reduced mobility within the main Legislative bodies, such as the National Congress (Senate and Chamber of Deputies), state assemblies and municipal chambers. These actions, however, need to be expanded, with a view to creating a more robust institutional culture of implementing solutions to current accessibility problems. The following are some of this commitment’s expected results: training/awarenessraising of employees, reduction of behavioral barriers, production of accessible content, formalization of a permanent accessibility committee (CPA) and coordination of public policies with the needs of people with disabilities. These actions aim not only to improve participation mechanisms for people with disabilities in in-person or online events and seek communication accessibility, but also to promote a policy of providing predictable information (in accessible formats) before voting legislative proposals to enable citizens to obtain timely knowledge and implement engagement and coordination strategies regarding matters of interest. To enhance accessibility policies, the recommendation is to establish a channel for sharing best practices related to accessibility and create a “parlametria” interface, which would provide information on legislative proposals in progress at the National Congress.

Why this commitment is relevant to OGP values? By addressing accessibility issues particularly in terms of the right of access to information – in combination with other initiatives – the commitment takes into account the OGP principles and highlights the importance of including a social group that is often neglected in more universalized discussions. Developed considering the peculiarities of each public that engages with the Legislative, the commitment strengthens specific actions from the perspective of broader values, helping to create mechanisms with a focus on the principles of transparency, social participation and innovation.

Additional information This commitment involves actions related to SDG 11, in particular its Target 11.7: “By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.”

Milestones (with verifiable deliverable) Start Date: End Date: Milestone 1 - Survey of existing tools for supporting the implementation of accessibility measures by organizations January 2022 December 2022 Milestone 2 - Parlametria Interface to allow people with disabilities to monitor legislative proposals of interest and the most active legislators January 2022 April 2022 Milestone 3 - Guide on Accessible Online Meetings January 2022 December 2022 Milestone 4 - Survey and repository of existing materials and best practices for supporting the implementation of accessibility measures by organizations January 2022 December 2022 Milestone 5 - Best practices guide, produced by public bodies and organizations representing people with disabilities January 2022 December 2022 Milestone 6 - Training plan on accessibility, developed with the participation of people with disabilities or organizations that represent them, civil servants and legislators January 2022 December 2022 61 Milestone 7 - Guide on accessible in-person events January 2022 June 2022 Milestone 8 - Social media communication action aimed at encouraging the participation of people with disabilities January 2022 December 2022 Milestone 9 - Dissemination of actions January 2022 December 2022 Milestone 10 - Preparation of a guide on best accessible communication practices January 2022 December 2022 Milestone 11 - Awareness-raising event on the relationship between people with disabilities and legislative bodies January 2022 December 2022 Milestone 12 - Survey of organizations that offer training and support for accessibility actions January 2022 December 2022

Action Plan Review

Commitment 12. Improving Legislative Accessibility

Results Report

Commitment 12. Improving legislative accessibility

In the previous action plan, Brazil committed to increasing access to different social segments to participate and be actively informed of the legislative process. [170] Commitment 12 sought to increase accessibility for people with disabilities by implementing training/awareness-raising events for employees and citizens, reducing behavioral, procedural, and communicational barriers, and leveraging technological resources in attaining these actions. [171] The IRM found that the commitment was substantially completed despite the shortened implementation period and ongoing elections at the time. The commitment moved forward in identifying and disseminating best practices and tools and elaborating guidance and training materials.

The senate published a booklet outlining key concepts on disabilities, including definitions, barriers, symbols, legislation, and important awareness days. [172] Additionally, a chapter on accessibility was included in the Senate’s Parliamentary Guide for the 2023–2027 legislation. This chapter provides senators and staff with detailed information on physical accessibility, mobility resources, accessible communication (such as Braille translators), current programs for employing individuals with disabilities, and training opportunities for promoting accessibility awareness. [173] Furthermore, commitment stakeholders, led by the Chamber of Deputies, developed a guide specifically for accessible in-person legislative events. [174] As intended, the commitment raised awareness and promoted the participation of individuals with disabilities through social media dissemination activities [175] and online events. [176]

The commitment did not complete the development of a guide for accessible online legislative events [177] and creation of a training plan on accessibility with individuals with disabilities or organizations representing them. Furthermore, the IRM found no evidence of Milestone 2 being implemented despite a 90% completion rate in the government self-assessment report. This milestone sought to add accessibility features for people with disabilities to an existing, civil society-run legislative monitoring platform, Parlametria. [178]

The commitment achieved moderate early results through the advancement of the aforementioned activities on creating guidelines, disseminating best practices, and raising awareness. Additionally, the commitment was coordinated by a municipal legislative body, marking a first in Brazil OGP process. It also had the participation of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies at the federal level, with the Senate playing an active role in the implementation of various milestones. [179] These simultaneously advanced the inclusion of other levels and branches of government in open government practices, as recommended in previous IRM reviews. [180] The commitment also built on the accomplishment of the previous NAP, by focusing on encouraging the participation of an important segment of the population and reducing their barriers through institutional guidelines. [181] However, the commitment faced challenges in coordinating a subnational aspirational actor. Coordination and expertise issues also contributed to the delays. [182] Furthermore, the concurrence with the electoral period more directly impacted the coordination efforts of this commitment. Given these challenges, the advancement of the commitment reflected more expedited and condensed versions of the work planned in the milestones.