Who Does Better with a Big Interface? Improving Voting Performance of Reading for Disabled Voters
Name
vtp_wp24.pdf
Size
258.83 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
fe02c6a1c1a5155464c3474f91cc3560
Author(s)
Selker, Ted
Goler, Jonathan A.
Wilde, Lorin F.
Date Issued
February 2005
Publisher
Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project
Series/Report no.
VTP Working Paper Series;24
Abstract
This study shows how ballot interfaces variably affect the voting performance of people with different abilities. An interface with all information viewable simultaneously might either help orient or overwhelm a voter, depending on he/her skill-set. Voters with diagnosed reading disabilities performed significantly better on full-faced voting machines than those who demonstrated a high likelihood of similar, but undiagnosed, disabilities. In contrast, the diagnosed group performed worse than others when using standard-sized Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) systems. We suspect that this observed difference in performance is due to the interaction of system features with learned coping techniques, which allow diagnosed reading disabled voters to function effectively in other parts of everyday life. The full-faced system provides a means of orienting but not of guiding the voter, while the standard DRE guides the users through the voting process without giving the voter a means of orienting themselves. A hybrid design that incorporates the advantages of both these systems might be beneficial for both reading disabled and non-reading disabled voters.
Subjects
Ballot interface
Voter disability
Experiment
Persistent DSpace Link
