Fafen’s report: Parliamentary websites exhibit disparities in transparency, accessibility

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ISLAMABAD: The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFN) has called for standardization of information and access features to enhance usability and transparency of parliamentary websites.

“Such reforms are necessary not only to improve public participation in the parliamentary process but also as a key countermeasure against the spread of misinformation that undermines parliamentary functioning and the democratic process”, Parliamentary Transparency in Pakistan and Recommends the Faffen report on openness.

The report states that while parliamentary websites in Pakistan have evolved into dynamic hubs of up-to-date information, often surpassing the websites of federal ministries and divisions, there are still significant disparities in transparency, accessibility and usability. show the

According to the report, some platforms provide extensive legislative information, while others fail to meet minimum standards. It added that these discrepancies limit public access to critical information and increase the risks of misinformation and disinformation in an already polarized political environment.

“Furthermore, the Legislature’s strong digital presence is in line with Pakistan’s broader digital transition agenda and the government’s e-governance goals, as outlined in the Continuous Development Plans”, it said.

Fafan urged the parliamentary leadership of all legislatures to develop and adopt common standards for the availability and presentation of information on their websites. The report stressed that these standards should emphasize better transparency, user-friendly design and better citizen engagement, enabling the public to access timely, accurate and comprehensive legislative information. The Senate, National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh are using the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) framework in their guidelines for parliamentary websites.

The recommendations presented in these guidelines were adapted to the Pakistani context. According to the assessment, the Senate website leads by ensuring the availability of more than two-thirds (69pc) of the information and features recommended by the IPU on its platform.

Punjab Assembly is following 64% and National Assembly 61% recommendations. These platforms provide more comprehensive and user-friendly access to legislative information, setting a higher standard for transparency and accessibility. However, the provincial assemblies of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan lag significantly behind with scores of 51 percent, 40 percent and 38 percent respectively. The Assembly website provides some more information about members’ profiles. Balochistan Assembly pages are inactive. It reports significant technical issues that hinder its use.

The report emphasizes that there has been a significant evolution of parliamentary websites in Pakistan over the past two decades. Initially limited in scope and rarely updated, they now offer regular updates on plenary sessions, committee activities and individual legislators.

A significant shortcoming identified is the limited use of accessibility features across all six websites. While the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly platforms include some accessibility options, none meet the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards recommended by the IPU, the report said. In addition, the technical nature and fragmented presentation of information make these websites difficult for the general public to navigate. . Most of the content is uploaded in non-interactive PDF formats, which hinders the integration of datasets.

Although individual members’ activities are detailed in verbatim discussions, this information is not aggregated or displayed on their profiles in a user-friendly manner, making it difficult to gauge overall performance.

Another trend seen in recent years is the frequent revamping of parliamentary websites, which in some cases does little to preserve historical information.

This disrupts the continuity of information, making it difficult to track past legislative records and trends. The Senate website received the highest score for following the IPU recommended guidelines for parliamentary websites. Records of oral debates are available on all parliamentary websites except the Sindh Assembly.

Attendance records of members are available on all websites except Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies. Limited adherence to W3C accessibility standards was noted, with only the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly adding some features to assist persons with disabilities.

Search functionality issues and inactive links on Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies websites were identified as major concerns.

Actions taken on enacted laws and resolutions of assemblies are generally absent on all parliamentary websites. The report concluded that the absence of user engagement features, such as advanced search tools, FAQs and interactive options, limited websites’ ability to attract a wider audience.