FAFEN Calls for Uniform Standards to Improve Usability and Transparency of Pakistan’s Parliamentary Websites
The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has called for the implementation of uniform standards across Pakistan’s parliamentary websites to improve usability and enhance transparency.
According to FAFEN’s report, Parliamentary Transparency and Openness in Pakistan, while parliamentary websites have developed into key sources of information, they vary significantly in terms of transparency, accessibility, and usability. FAFEN stated: “Some platforms provide extensive legislative information, while others fail to meet even minimum standards. These inconsistencies restrict public access to critical information and exacerbate the risks of misinformation and disinformation in an already polarized political environment.”
FAFEN assessed parliamentary websites using the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) guidelines and found that the Senate website scored the highest, meeting 69 percent of the recommended features. The Punjab Assembly followed with 64 percent, while the National Assembly met 61 percent of the criteria. Provincial assemblies of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan lagged behind, scoring 51 percent, 40 percent, and 38 percent, respectively.
The organization urged parliamentary leaders to create and implement standards for the information on websites and how the websites are presented.
“These standards should emphasize enhanced transparency, user-friendly design, and improved citizen engagement, enabling the public to access timely, accurate, and comprehensive legislative information,” the report stated.
One of the key challenges identified in the report is the lack of accessibility features across the websites. While the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly platforms incorporate some accessibility options, none fully meet the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards recommended by the IPU.
Additionally, the report pointed out that the technical presentation of information, mainly in non-interactive PDF formats, makes navigation difficult for the general public and limits data integration across platforms.
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