1. Making voting accessible
Designing digital ballot marking
for people with low literacy
Dana Chisnell
@danachis
@ChadButterfly
2. Kathryn Summers, University of Baltimore
Dana Chisnell, Center for Civic Design
Drew Davies, Oxide Design Co
Megan McKeever, University of Baltimore
Noel Alton, University of Baltimore
3. Accessible Voting Technology Initiative (AVTI)
sub grant from Information Technology and
Innovation Foundation (ITIF)
4. How might we design an accessible
election experience for everyone?
5. What if anyone could mark their ballot
anywhere, any time, on any device?
16. Low literacy: beyond
plain language
linear reading
literal meaning
struggle with
word recognition
understanding what words together mean
17. field of view is narrow
not able to pay attention to what might
be coming up
can’t remember where they came from
18. Implications
sequential, linear
processing support
pages must stand alone,
make sense
independently
headings must work out
of context
adjacent paragraphs
must be independent
19. Challenge
provide an overview showing the
structure of the ballot
!+
!
without losing specificity
and clarity in interaction
20. Method
Combined research and design methods
!
Generative, exploratory
!
Paper prototype —> digital prototype
!
Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE)
21. RITE
collaborative
identification of issues in each session
immediate development of theory for remedy
!
Medlock, et al. Using the RITE method to improve products; a definition and a
case study, 2002
22. Process
33 sessions (18 paper; 15 digital)
NIST medium complexity ballot
protocol from NIST IR 7556
31. Scrolling
for non-computer users
buttons at the top and bottom of the
visible candidate names
!
visible scroll bar, or on the iPad by flicking
with a finger
32. Scrolling
for non-computer users
with a label that went from
“Touch to see additional
candidates” to
“Touch to see more names”