Accessible Voting Technology Research Workshop, April 1-2

By Renee Dopplick, ACM Director of Public Policy
March 29, 2013

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission and the National Institute of Standards and Technology will be holding a two-day workshop on April 1-2 to explore current and future research in accessible voting technology. The two-day workshop will be available by live webcast.

The Workshop comes just days after President Obama’s Executive Order creating a new Election Administration Commission to focus on improving the management and administration of federal elections. Part of the Commission’s mission will be to identify best practices and to make recommendations on ways to improve “voting accessibility for individuals with disabilities, limited English proficiency, and other special needs.”

ACM U.S. Public Policy Council member Dr. Juan E. Gilbert, who holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science, will be participating in the panel on “Accessibility Research and Elections: Where Are We Now?” from 10:30 am-noon Eastern Time on Monday, April 1.

Dr. Gilbert is the Presidential Endowed Chair in Computing, an IDEaS Professor, and Chair of the Human-Centered Computing Division in the School of Computing at Clemson University where he leads the HCC Lab. His research team at Clemson University won the FCC Chairman’s 2012 Award for Advancement in Accessibility for their accessible voting system, known as the Prime III: A Universally Designed Voting Machine. Dr. Gilbert was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Mathematics Mentoring by President Barack Obama in 2011.

Additional panels at the Accessible Voting Technology Research Workshop will include:

  • Accessibility Experiences and Challenges During Elections
  • Technology Transfer and Voting System Manufacturers’ Accessibility Experiences and Challenges
  • Designing for People with Cognitive Disabilities and Low Literacy
  • Ballot Design and the Emergence of Mobile Devices
  • Accessible Voting Interfaces and Technologies
  • Usability and Accessibility Testing

Agenda: http://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/avt-research-workshop-agenda__.cfm
Live webcast: http://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/avt-research-workshop.cfm
Twitter discussion: #AVTvote