Accessible Voting Systems Usability Measures

It is critical that all adults be able to successfully and independently engage in the voting process. In order to ensure that this is possible, individuals with disabilities must be included in usability evaluations of accessible voting systems, and the present paper defines standardized evaluation criteria and benchmarks for including blind, visually impaired, and dexterity limited individuals in testing. While voting accuracy is always the most important measure of any voting system, additional factors disproportionately impact individuals with disabilities, which can make the voting process difficult and painful if not properly controlled. As a result, the authors propose the use of revised Voluntary Voting System Guidelines and Voting Performance Protocol measures for total completion score, voter inclusion index, and perfect ballot index, as well as two new measures, voting time and interactions, to determine whether a system should be considered acceptable for people with disabilities. These new measures are necessary to ensure that the voting process can be successfully and reasonably completed by individuals with disabilities.