In response to the controversy surrounding the 2000 presidential election results, the Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) was created to assist in the administration of federal elections and establish minimum election administration standards.
In 2015, the EAC released Volume 1, Version 1.1 of the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) - this outlined standards adopted by the EAC for the certification of voting systems and to improve accessibility for voters.
Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines
(VVSG)
VVSG - Research Notes
As a Lead UX designer for voting systems at Everyone Counts, Andrew's action item number one was to review the 300+ pages of VVSG documentation and determine how this impacted the voting systems he was designing. PDF highlighter in hand, Andrew read through and recorded all VVSG guidelines which could be applied to the voter experience, voting interface, or otherwise could be incorporated into an online voting system.
From the VVSG content, the curated guidelines were grouped into four categories: Formatting, Functions, Language and Requirements. With additional peer review, 52 VVSG guidelines were defined which were deemed applicable to an online voting system.
Using a lightly modified/customized Bootstrap WordPress Theme, Andrew was able to quickly build an online point-of-reference to educate and socialize these VVSG UX Guidelines throughout the Product Team. Each guideline was paired with a “simple language” version of the guideline, a reference to the original VVSG text, and a diagram to help visualize the concept/standard being defined.
Formatting / Control Positions: Buttons which activate a control should be located
in places where they can avoid being touched.
Similar to a list of top-shelf ingredients, the VVSG UX Guidelines validated the quality of accessibility standards which were baked into the voting software being developed at Everyone Counts. This grew the usefulness of the VVSG UX Guidelines beyond an internal tool for Product teams and into an external resource for Marketing and Leadership teams to share (proudly) with existing and prospective clients.
Language / Instructions - Instructions based on a condition should read: condition > action (not the reverse)
Functions / Warning Pop ups & Privacy: All warning messages must preserve the privacy and confidentiality of the voter - the warning message may not reveal any voter choices.
Formatting / Icons must be labeled: Icons cannot be used as the sole means of communicating an action or function.
Using the VVSG UX Guidelines as a foundation - these design styles, patterns and layouts were interwoven into the Everyone Counts UI Style Guide to guarantee adaptation of these accessibility standards within our products.
When an icon is used to convey information, indicate an action, or prompt a response, it shall be accompanied by a corresponding linguistic label.
The ballot shall clearly indicate the maximum number of candidates for which one can vote within a single contest.
When an instruction is based on a condition, the condition should be stated first, and then the action to be performed.
Color coding shall not be used as the sole means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.
Highlighted VVSG Guidelines on an
Online Voting Mobile Ballot sample
Inspired by the VVSG research and the opportunity to conduct voter testing with several participants with disabilities - Andrew decided to share his experiences with the design community
In November 2016, Andrew was given the opportunity to present a talk titled “Common Sense and Accessibility” at UX Speakeasy’s monthly San Diego Meet Up. During the presentation, he reviewed a few practical techniques from his VVSG research which UX designers could immediately incorporate into their own designs to benefit those users with accessibility needs. He also shared examples of how these techniques often (unintentionally) benefit a wider user audience.
Following the initial event, Andrew was invited to speak on the topic on a few more occasions including: AIGA Y! Conference, Design @ UCSD, and WordCamp Orange County.
Here are a few photos and Tweets from those events:
Digging Deep into accessibile design topics with students at DesignCo/Design@UCSD
Sharing thoughts on accessibility from a "barrel podium", courtesy of Karl Strauss & UX Speakeasy - awesome crowd (including his wife and 5 month old son)
