Accessibility and Usability Considerations for Remote Electronic

UOCAVA VotingSharon Laskowski, PhD

National Institute of Standards and Technology

http://vote.nist.gov

TGDC Meeting, July 8-9, 2010

TGDC Meeting, July 8-9, 2010

Issues and Recommendations are organized by technology

• General accessibility and usability • Web browsers• Web ballot repositories • Online ballot markers and electronic form

fillers• E-mail• Kiosks• Telephone-based interfaces• Fax machines

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TGDC Meeting, July 8-9, 2010

Example Recommendations: General accessibility and usability

• Accessibility and usability best practices and guidelines have not been systematically applied to design and testing of UOCAVA voting systems

• Recommendation: Where appropriate follow VVSG 2.0 accessibility and usability requirements and test methods

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TGDC Meeting, July 8-9, 2010

Web-based voting• The VVSG does not address Web-based voting

systems or Personal Assistive Technologies (PAT)

• Use of Javascript and Java applets may lead to loss of focus for screen readers

• Recommendation: Follow W3C Web Accessibility Initiative WCAG 2.0 and ARIA*, Section 508 guidelines, and best practices for accessibility for AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and XML) implementations

*Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Accessible Rich Internet Applications

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TGDC Meeting, July 8-9, 2010

Authentication and CAPTCHAs• Some authentication approaches are not

compatible with accessibility• Visual CAPTCHAs

• Recommendation: Follow accessible CAPTCHA design guidelines– Resizable– Adequate contrast to distinguish the CAPTCHA from its

background– Don’t use shadows– Alternatives, e.g, text readout, phone in

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TGDC Meeting, July 8-9, 2010

Interoperability • For Web-based remote electronic voting, a variety

of system components must run simultaneously: operating systems, browsers, voting software, PAT, and voting system hardware (for kiosks)

• Web applications must display properly with all commonly-used Web browsers and screen readers

• Recommendation: It is critical to design for and test all common configurations for interoperability, including testing with PAT by testers familiar with using PAT

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TGDC Meeting, July 8-9, 2010

Documents• When voters view and/or print documents (such

as ballots), the documents need to be accessible• PDF might not be accessible• Recommendations: If you must use PDF,

– Save documents as accessible PDF rather than images– To support screen legibility for low vision voters, check

that Adobe Reader “reflow” feature performs correctly– If voters need to print for submission, support print

legibility for low vision voters by providing enlarged font documents (not a substitute for accessible PDF and/or screen viewing)

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TGDC Meeting, July 8-9, 2010

Telephone-based interfaces

• Telephone-based interfaces without a screen require the ability to hear the prompts and also impose a high memory load

• Recommendations: – Create requirements based on general best practices

for interactive voice response systems– Require non-auditory alternatives for people with

hearing loss and non-manual alternatives for people severe manual dexterity disabilities

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