Accessible Mobile Voting Systems
Sarah J. Swierenga
Graham L. Pierce
James Jackson
Robert Decloniemaclennan

Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting
Michigan State University
sswieren@msu.edu

NIST AVT Workshop
Gaithersburg, MD
April 2, 2013

Accessible Mobile Voting Systems
•	Project goal
–	Create an accessible user interface and interaction design for mobile voting 
–	Developers can use design to create accessible mobile voting systems 
–	Voters could fill out ballots on personal devices outside the polling the place
Design Goals
•	Design all screens for voting the NIST Test Ballot
–	Provide instructions
–	Preferences/settings, e.g., accessibility options
–	All contest types, e.g., straight party, pick two
–	Write-in interface
•	Alternative keyboard layout
•	Switch access scanning
–	Ballot review
Design Goals
•	Develop detailed interaction design
–	Touch screen
•	Swiping
•	Flicking
•	Tap, double tap
–	Keyboard
–	Joystick
•	System feedback
–	Alerts and warnings
–	Timing and response
Design Goals
•	Design layout for each screen – UI defaults
–	Text
•	Fonts
•	Size
•	Letter spacing, line height and width
•	Text and background colors
–	User interface elements
•	Button size
•	Scroll bar functionality
•	Alternative on-screen keyboard

Contact Information
Sarah Swierenga
Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting
	Michigan State University
Phone: 517-353-8977
E-mail: sswieren@msu.edu 
Web: usability.msu.edu