Shirley Ann Becker

E-government visual accessibility for older adult users

The web offers an unprecedented opportunity to gain immediate access to government resources that might not otherwise be available to many older adults aged 60 years and over. Yet due to aging vision, there remain design barriers to the use of state and federal government web sites. This research describes aging vision and its impact on the accessibility of government web sites. It incorporates the guidelines published by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for making senior-friendly web sites. Several software tools, including Dottie and Usability Enforcer, are described in terms of their functionality in promoting senior-friendly web sites. Data generated by the software tools and manual assessment are used to evaluate e-government compliance with vision-related NIA accessibility guidelines.

A usability study of internet privacy policies for state and commercial websites

Increasingly, consumers are getting online to take advantage of the unprecedented convenience of accessing goods and services. However, there are still web barriers preventing some consumers from exploiting this opportunity. One of the main barriers is concern over the privacy of personal information when a consumer visits a website. To address this concern, the Federal Trade Commission has developed a set of Fair Information Practices Principles. Many web vendors use these principles to develop online privacy policies as a means of promoting consumer trust. This study assesses the contents and reading complexity of privacy policies posted by 40 state government and commercial sites. The principles set forth by the Federal Trade Commission are used as a basis for assessing the content of these policies. The findings show that for each of the principles, privacy policies lack content that could promote consumer trust. It was also found that the reading complexity of these policies posed a significant barrier because personal information was not well-defined, technical jargon lacked explanation, sentences were complex, and codes and regulations were quoted as part of information disclosure.

Rapid application design and testing of Web usability

The rapid application design and testing (RAD-T) process greatly advances time-driven development of Web applications without sacrificing usability. Our GUI-based toolset, in conjunction with an extension of HTML, provides for early usability testing at the onset of Web specification and design activities.

A Case Study on a Security Maturity Assessment of a Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce Organization

GlobalUBid.com is a B2B (business-to-business) e-commerce company offering excess and obsolete inventory to online customers. GlobalUBid is rapidly expanding into the global online marketplace; but recently, its Web site crashed due to a denial-of-service (DOS) attack. A lack of security awareness at an organizational level has left GlobalUBid’s online system vulnerable to internal and external attacks. Though informal security policies are in place, many employees are not aware of them nor are they enforced on a regular basis. Unsecured aspects of the physical workplace make the organization vulnerable to disgruntled employees, hackers, and unscrupulous competition. GlobalUBid has hired URSecure consultants to conduct a security assessment in uncovering internal and external vulnerabilities. URSecure has made recommendations for improved security, though the organization must develop most of the implementation details. GlobalUBid management recognizes the need for improved security, though there is a concern about the financial implications of implementing a security plan.

Architectural accessibility and reading complexity of US state e-government for older adult users

The US aging population can benefit greatly from e-government resources because of their immediate availability. Unfortunately, older adults may encounter web barriers preventing access to e-government resources. This study assessed potential barriers associated with state e-government in terms of link descriptions, navigational depth, and reading complexity. Results showed that most state sites were not readily accessible by older adults. Only 5% had descriptive homepage links navigating directly to senior resources. Fifteen percent required navigation through four or more secondary pages to access senior resources. Over 91% of sampled content targeting seniors had a reading grade level higher than eighth grade.

Effective databases for text & document management

With the increased need for text and document management methods comes the need to have properly developed systems or databases that house the information properly and effectively. This book addresses the information management needs of organizations by providing research and findings in the field.