Scotland’s advice and support service for disabled people seeking involvement in political life and elected office.
Access to Politics
About
Our Access to Politics service offers advice and support to disabled people who are involved or want to be more involved in political life, whether as part of a political party or not. The project aims to address the barriers preventing disabled people from fully participating in politics. We promote greater representation at all levels of political participation and the skills and lived experience that disabled people offer.
We can meet with disabled people to discuss the barriers they experience, and offer help developing solutions. We can do this by phone, e-mail, or in person, and can also provide communications support if required. We are keen to hear about the adjustments and alternative methods that have already been developed to help disabled people active in politics, and that may benefit others. We also work with political parties and other political organisations to support them to become more accessible for disabled people.
Access to Politics is funded by the Scottish Government.
You can contact Access to Politics:
- e-mailing us at accesspolitics@inclusionscotland.org.
- by phoning Stuart on 0131 370 6713.
If you are a disabled person:
We can:
- Discuss what political involvements you have and wish to have, and the barriers you have faced or expect to face.
- Consider sources of support and/or reasonable adjustments that could help address these barriers, and who may need to be involved.
- We will work with you to develop a plan of action that you are comfortable with.
- We may be able to put you in touch with other disabled activists for peer-support, or help you find a mentor.
- We can offer you the chance to share your experiences with others to help them too, as part of our Access to Politics network.
If you are a group/party organiser, officer or staff member:
We are happy to be contacted with specific questions on improving accessibility for political events and activities. We can advise on:
- Accessible events.
- Communications materials.
- The ways in which you conduct meetings and training.
- The language you use to talk about disabled people and disability issues.
- Your obligations under the Equality Act and, if applicable, electoral law.
- Suggested good practice above and beyond legal obligations.
If you already carry out good practice to increase accessibility in your political activity, we’d love to hear about it. We may even be keen to feature it in an article or blog post.
Why not check out our Access to Politics toolkits? These provide advice on running inclusive events and working towards disabled people’s full access to political participation.
Contacting Access to Politics
Use the form below to contact us as an individual disabled person
Use the form below to contact us as a political organisation
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Please contact our Civic Participation team on 0131 370 6713 (Text Relay or Contact Scotland BSL assisted calls welcome), or by e-mail at civicparticipation@inclusionscotland.org
Please contact our Civic Participation team on 0131 370 6713 (Text Relay or Contact Scotland BSL assisted calls welcome), or by e-mail at civicparticipation@inclusionscotland.org
