Sarah J. Swierenga

What we know about dyslexia and Web accessibility: a research review

Compared to the online interaction behavior of other users, little is known about the difficulties dyslexic Web users encounter online. This paper reviews existing literature at the intersection of dyslexia and accessibility research to determine what useful knowledge exists regarding this important and relatively large group of users. This review uncovers that, although there are few published usability tests with dyslexic users, there is a considerable body of knowledge on dyslexia as well as many design guidelines for authoring dyslexic-accessible interfaces. Through a comparison of existing accessibility guidelines for dyslexic and non-dyslexic users and discussion of the plain language movement, it is argued that dyslexic-accessible practices may redress difficulties encountered by all Internet users. This conclusion suggests that usability testing yielding a clearer profile of the dyslexic user would further inform the practice of universal design, but also that enough knowledge is already available to allow doing more to increase accessibility for dyslexic Internet users.

Rap Backs: Continuous Workforce Monitoring to Improve Patient Safety in Long-Term Care

The Michigan Workforce Background Check (MWBC) system is a Web-based application that centralizes the screening process for job applicants at long-term care facilities by integrating the checking of registries and databases, and by providing secure communication between the system and state agencies. A key feature of the system is the rap back, which is a process whereby fingerprint images submitted by healthcare workers are maintained in a database and compared against arrest fingerprints to track subsequent criminal activity. Rap backs eliminate the need for subsequent fingerprinting to update criminal record information. A user-centered design process was used to create the interaction design during the development process, resulting in very few post-release adjustments and saved time and financial resources. Patient safety is improved due to this rap back process because unfit workers are immediately identified and removed from long-term care facilities.

Improving Patient Safety through User-Centered Healthcare Background Check System Design

The Michigan Workforce Background Check (MWBC) system is a cost-effective, usable web application for conducting employability screenings for healthcare workers in long-term care settings. This system is an exemplar for demonstrating how a user-centered design process facilitated the flow of critical information, improved applicant data accuracy, and improved patient safety by eliminating access by known abusers and criminals to vulnerable adults in long-term care settings. The redesigned system 1) increases the efficiency in the background check process, 2) collects more accurate and comprehensive applicant data, and 3) ultimately improves patient safety by quickly identifying unfit workers.

Real-world user-centered design: the michigan workforce background check system

The Michigan Workforce Background Check system demonstrates how an iterative user-centered design (UCD) process enhances organizationallevel communication practices and efficiency. Well-designed information communication technology is an essential component of effective public health management. Usability and accessibility testing informed subsequent design and development. The iterative improvement in the background check application demonstrates that UCD should be a component of public health management projects in particular, and online project development in general.

Effects of Message Characteristics, Age, and Gender on Perceptions of Mobile Advertising An Empirical Investigation among College Students

A tremendous opportunity emerges for marketers to push effective advertisements to target audiences. One forecast suggests mobile advertising will represent one-fifth of the global Internet advertising revenue by 2011, generating

Aging and elder abuse: Projections for Michigan

14.4 billion of revenue. Hence, the need for knowledge advances in this fairly young area is warranted. A study of 344 U.S. college students was conducted to answer two questions in the context of mobile message advertising via SMS: i) How does a mobile advertisement’s message length affect the receiving mobile user’s attitude toward the advertisement? Ii) Are there age and gender differences in the evaluation of SMS-based mobile advertisements? A PLS-based data analysis offers support for the positive effects of mobile ads’ message length on the perceived informativeness and entertainment of the mobile ad, which in turn positively influence both attitude toward the mobile ad and the mobile user’s intention to click through it and learn more about the advertised brand. Gender effects were found regarding perceptions of a mobile ad’s informativeness. Specifically, women reported higher levels for all dependent constructs, i.e. informativeness and entertainment of the mobile ads, attitude toward the ads, and intention to click through and learn more. Also, age was shown to negatively influence the attitude toward the mobile ad, i.e. older users reported lower levels regarding the mobile ad’s value, their attitude toward the ads, and their likelihood to click through than younger users. Implications for both theory and practice are also discussed, including an expanded model regarding mobile advertising effectiveness with high explanatory power (i.e. 69% of the variance in the attitude toward mobile ads and 54% of the variance in the behavioral intention to respond to the ad by clicking through was explained).

Incorporating Web accessibility into the design process

Lori Post1, Charles Salmon1, Artem Prokhorov2, James Oehmke3 and Sarah Swierenga4 1College of Communication Arts & Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA 2Department of Economics, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 3Agricultural, Food & Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA 4Office of Accessibility & Usability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

Security Implications for Personal Assistive Technology in Voting

It was discovered that setting up an accessibility compliance program was challenging but rewarding work. Some valuable lessons are discussed about handling large-scale accessibility initiatives which include: get the high-level stakeholders identified and contacted as soon as possible because gaining their buy-in is critical for the success of the project, conduct a very basic accessibility review of the current products and provide the management team with information they can use for establishing sizings and priorities, the accessibility lead needs to stay involved with every stage of the redevelopment process; pull other resources in as needed, and an accessibility advocate and champion is important for the success of the project. Usability specialists can play a vital role in promoting the importance of accessible web design. Knowing that the efforts would benefit real people trying to use the Travelers by Design (TBD) sites was gratifying. The chapter concludes that TBD beat out the competition and won the government contract! The bottom line is that accessible design benefits the company and its customers.

Menuing and Scrolling as Alternative Information Access Techniques

Voting security and accessibility are important concerns that must be addressed when designing new voting systems or integrating technologies into the voting process, e.g., remote voting, mobile voting, and/or supporting personal assistive technologies in the polling place. We researched the security implications of allowing users with disabilities to vote using their personal assistive technologies, which would significantly improve the accessibility of the voting process, as well as potentially reduce the risks to security, such as data security, data reliability, voter verification, and auditability, among others. Based on this research and feedback from users with disabilities regarding using a tablet device to vote, we proposed using an intermediary device such as a computer or tablet to enable the secure use of personal assistive technologies in voting and enhance the user experience.

The Impact of Usability on Patient Safety in Long-Term Care

An experiment was conducted to evaluate menuing and scrolling as alternative information access techniques when a touch-sensitive input device was used to interact with the system. A hierarchical menu structure and three scrolling methods, line-by-line, half-screen, and full-screen, were tested. Level of goal word familiarity (familiar and unfamiliar) and window display size (12 or 24 lines displayed on the screen) were also examined. The task consisted of using a touch tablet to locate a target goal word with one of the four access methods. Members of a single set of 64 words, 32 familiar and 32 unfamiliar, served as goal words in all conditions. Performance data (total time to complete the task) were collected from 48 subjects. Access method and window size were between-subject variables. Each subject received both word familiarity levels. Results of an analysis of variance on mean total task time (MTIME) revealed a significant access method by word familiarity interaction. Separate analyses of variance were conducted on MTIME for familiar and unfamiliar goal word sets. When the goal word was familiar, menuing was fastest, followed by line-by-line, full-screen, and half-screen scrolling. For unfamiliar goal words, line-by-line scrolling was fastest, followed by full-screen, half-screen, and menuing. The effect of window size was not significant. The findings of this study suggest that the operators familiarity with the information being searched is important when deciding upon an access method.