A protocol for usable accessibility testing for voting systems

www.civicdesign.org/tools/accessibility-testing-voting-systems/

A protocol for usable accessibility testing for voting systems

A protocol for testing whether voting systems let voters with disabilities vote privately and independently, with a focus on the voter experience. That is, it provides a test of usability and accessibility functions in use, including how well the ballot presents voters with options and allows them to confirm their choices while marking and verify their ballot before casting.

What this is

A step-by-step examination protocol. It walks 2 examiners through 4 activities — an expert review, usability testing with voters, a review with poll workers, and a final report — and includes every script, form, and template they need to run it.

Who it’s for

State certification programs and election offices evaluating a new voting system. Federal certification tells you whether a system has the right features. This tells you whether those features work in practice.

A protocol for usable accessibility testing for voting systems

What’s in the protocol:

  • Facilitation guide
  • Scripts for voter and poll worker sessions
  • Note-taking forms
  • Test ballot
  • Consent form
  • Examiner qualifications
  • Report template
Download tool (PDF)

Research behind this guide

This protocol was originally developed as part of a state certification program where systems must first be certified by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG).

This research is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License. You are free to share and adapt for non-commercial purposes. If you share, cite the Center for Civic Design as the source. If you have questions about applying this work, contact director@civicdesign.org