UPA Projects
Usability in Civic Life
"I am happy to commend the Association for its efforts to enhance public consciousness of the payoff from increased usability and efficiency in the products Americans use."
- Vice President Al Gore
UPA works to improve the user experience of civic life for all.
News
Read the Ballot Usability & Accessibility Blog
UPA chairs a panel on "Human Interfaces; design for accessible ICTs" at at the Joint ITU and G3ict Forum 2008 on "The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Challenges and Opportunities for ICT Standards" (April 21, 2008)
UPA presented testimony at the EAC Public meeting: Ballot Design, Accessibilty, and Usabilty (April 16, 2008)
The Plain Language in Government Communications Act of 2008 (HR 3548) was passed in the US House of Representatives, 376 Yea and just 1 Nay. Learn more about plain language. (April 14, 2008)
The TEITAC committee presented its report to the US Access Board (doc)with recommendations for updating accessibility regulations, Section 508 and Section 255 (April 3, 2008)
UPA presented testimony at the EAC Roundable on Usability and Accessibility: Connecting Usability and Accessiblity in Elections and Plain Language: Adding Simplicity to Voting (March 27, 2008)
Plain Language in Paperwork - The Benefits to Small Business. YouTube video of testimony from a US House hearing. Of particular note: Christopher Cox, SEC, and Anetta Cheek, Center for Plain Language. Written testimony is also online. (February 26, 2008)
New Zealand Version 1.0 of the New Zealand Web Standards and Recommendations go into effect. UPANZ participated in the Working Group (January 2008)
US Election Assistance Commission releases new draft of Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) for public comment. (October 2007)
Design for Democracy releases Effective Designs for the Administration of Federal Elections created for the EAC. (June 2007)
The British Standards Institution issues PAS 78: Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible web sites. UPA UK provided consultation (March 2006)
A Celebration of Usability in Civic Life: Did you know that UPA supports projects to improve the usability of elections, support plain language, and remove barriers to access for people with disabilities? Join us for posters, networking and a bit of inspiration from two advocates: Dr. Annetta Cheek, Center for Plain Language, and Karen Peltz Strauss, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications Access. Tuesday, June 17, 5pm – 7pm |
Voting and Usability
The UPA Voting and Usability Project focuses on people within the election process with projects addressing:
- Usability testing for election officials
- Sharing research on usable voting systems
- Standards for the usability and accessibility of voting systems
- Ethical guidelines for user experience professionals
| Consultants for election officials A list of usability and design professionals available for work on elections projects. Listed by state and country, to help officials make local connections. |
Usable Accessiblity
We support to improve not only accessibility, but create usable access to information, technology, products, and services, through:
- Accessibility standards
- National regulations
- Plain language
Updating US accessiblity regulations UPA is a member of the US Access Board advisory committee (TEITAC) updating Section 508 and Section 255 accessiblity regulation. |
Public Comment and Advocacy
UPA speaks out as an advocate for the importance of usability, accessibility and issues that impact the user experience in civic life, including:
- Legislation
- Standards
- Public issues
As the association for usability professionals around the world, we urge members to let policy-makers know about the issues that affect our work and our lives.
- How to contact your US local and national representatives