BackgroundThe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federally funded public benefit providing critical food assistance to millions of Americans. However, it is typically administered by states, creating potential variation in accessibility and transparency of information about enrollment for people with disabilities.ObjectiveTo create a method to assess the accessibility and transparency of information about the disability-inclusive process and practices of SNAP enrollmentMethodsData was collected from SNAP landing and enrollment webpages from all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and New York City from June-August 2021. Based on key principles of universal design and accessibility, scores were determined for each SNAP program across three areas: flexibility in the enrollment process (6 points), efficiency of finding information about enrollment on SNAP websites (6 points), and the accessibility of SNAP webpages (6 points). Total scores were the sum of these sub-categories (18 points maximum).ResultsOf the 52 SNAP programs assessed, mean scores were 10.66 (SD=2.51) for the total score, 2.67 (SD=0.91) for flexibility in the enrollment process, 3.32 (SD=1.19) for efficiency of finding information about enrollment on SNAP websites, and 4.67 (SD=1.72) for the accessibility of SNAP webpage. A total of 0 SNAP programs received the maximum score (6 points) on flexibility, 2 programs the maximum on efficiency, and 31 programs the maximum on accessibility.ConclusionsWe found differences in the accessibility, flexibility, and efficiency of SNAP program enrollment information available on SNAP websites and outline much room for improvement across all three of these areas.
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