By 2016, all published information and broadcast footage produced by Parliament should be freely available online in formats suitable for re-use. Hansard should be available as open data by the end of 2015.

[robertbrook]

To map out how it will reach this target, the House of Commons should develop a new communications strategy with the aim of: • increasing public awareness of the role of Parliament and MP, and • increasing public participation in the work of Parliament. It should build on previous experience to focus on what works and what is most cost- effective. (Recommendation 1)

[robertbrook]

The House of Commons should take action, during the 2015-16 session, to make parliamentary language and communications easier to understand. This should include: • simplifying and clarifying parliamentary language, including procedural terms; • developing digital tools such as jargon busters to help readers understand parliamentary language and processes, including the law-making process; • clarifying and simplifying online and printed communications; and • the wider use of aids for people with disabilities and sensory impairments such as British Sign Language translations and subtitles for video material to help the hard of hearing to engage with Parliament. (Recommendation 4)

[robertbrook]

The House of Commons should pilot a new procedure for amending bills so that amendments can be written, debated and voted on in plain English. (Recommendation 5)

[robertbrook]

The Commission recommends that Parliament’s website should use more infographic and visual data to help provide alternative methods of accessing content and to improve transparency. While the Commission acknowledges the need for intellectual rigour in parliamentary reports and other publications, lengthy documents can act as a barrier to citizen engagement with democracy, particularly for those with learning difficulties, special needs or just limited time. For example, the Register of Members’ Financial Interests could be transformed into a more accessible document for voters by the use of icons to represent data. (Recommendation 2)

[robertbrook]

The Commission recommends that improving the search function on the parliamentary website should be a priority for the new parliamentary digital service. (Recommendation 7). It should also provide tools to help people track Parliament’s activities on specific issues. These should be easy to find and register for. (Recommendation 9)

[robertbrook]

The House of Commons should make more real-time information available online, including details of who is speaking in debates. It should also experiment further with live social media coverage of what is said in debates. (Recommendation 10)

[robertbrook]

The Commission recommends that the current restrictions on members of the public taking mobile electronic devices into the House of Commons chamber and Westminster Hall debates are removed. (Recommendation 11)

[robertbrook]

The House of Commons should formally adopt the principles set out in the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness. (Recommendation 34)

[robertbrook]

The Commission encourages the Department for Education to improve the provision of political education within schools using digital means. (Recommendation 3)

[robertbrook]

All parliamentary information in the public domain should be made available to the public as downloadable data in formats which make them easy to re-use. Hansard and the register of MPs’ interests should be made available as open data by the end of 2015, followed by bills. (Recommendation 31)

[robertbrook]

We recommend that Erskine May, the definitive guide to parliamentary procedure, should be freely available online by the time the next edition is produced. (Recommendation 32)

[robertbrook]

Parliament should make its audio-visual coverage of debates and committees freely available for anyone to download and re-use without unreasonable copyright restrictions by the end of 2015. (Recommendation 8)