Terminology: People and roles Roles are defined by their activities and responsibilities. We have chosen to avoid the terms “vendor” and “test labs” because those are specific types of organizations. Voter – includes any voter. Poll Worker – anyone running a polling place or vote center, whether a temporary or permanent worker. Election Official – includes state and local election offices and their staff. System Designer – anyone contributing to the design of a voting system, including voting systems vendors, and people working in or for election offices. System Tester – anyone who evaluates voting systems, including teams at test labs, the EAC, and state or local election offices and certification programs. Voter Advocates – includes good government and specific advocacy groups who play a role in voter education, voter advocacy, and activities like voter registration.
Priority Area 4 Support evolving technology Include a wider range of technology in elections Technology has changed since HAVA and VVSG 1.0. New technologies have brought changes in expectations for use of personal devices in daily life, and these devices are making their way into elections. This priority looks at ways to create guidance to address the novel interactions for using these new devices. One of the most commonly mentioned challenges for new technologies or styles of interaction is that the VVSG 1.0 was written before mobile devices became commonplace. The human factors requirements did not anticipate the wide adoption of small screens, and the use of gestures like tapping and swiping. This priority has particular urgency for accessibility because of advances in the level of accessibility features in mobile operating systems. Mobile devices are also critical in considering digital divide issues, as some groups of voters—especially younger and some lower socio-economic demographic groups—use them as their primary computer. Problems that objectives in this priority can address include: A lack of interconnectivity and interoperability that make it hard to use new technologies and personal devices in a voting system. The challenge of making voting systems that work for a larger number of voters by being flexible to meet their needs. A lack of guidance for use of new forms of interaction, like gestures, in election systems (especially in voting systems). Objectives in this priority area Use universal design to create systems that work for more voters Enable the use of personal devices and assistive technology to vote Update voting guidance to address new technologies and interactions Create guidance for election systems outside of the “voting system”
Guidelines from industry Companies often publish guidance to improve IT accessibility, many of which are based on best practices design guidelines and could be specialized for voting systems. VVSG already includes some of these requirements. Apple iOS Accessibility Google Accessibility NCAM Accessible Digital Media Guidelines BBC Future Media: Accessibility Standards and Guidelines Universal Usability The original principles for universal design were focused on the architectural environment. They have since been adapted and used for more universal usability for digital products. The principles of universal design – Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University Universal usability guidelines – in Web Style Guide (3rd ed), 2009 Access by Design: A to universal usability (2005) by Sarah Horton http://www.universalusability.com/ A Web for Everyone (2014) by Sarah Horton and Whitney Quesenbery http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/a-web-for-everyone/ Usability and Accessibility for Specific Audiences or Topics Senior Citizens (Ages 65 and on the Web - Nielsen Norman Group Federal Language Guidelines Guidelines for Using Color in Voting Systems Guidelines for Writing Clear Instructions and Messages for Voters and Poll Workers http://www.nist.gov/itl/vote/upload/032906PlainLanguageRpt-2.pdf Usability Testing and Performance Standards The ISO 9241-11 definition of usability, which we use in the VVSG sets the metrics that are most commonly used to measure usability: “the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use”