VEC Voters Voice

The design is tailored specifically for voters with complex communication difficulties and literacy issues. To ensure a connection with our intended market we followed mobile WCAG 2.0 AAA compliance to guide visual and interaction design. We ensured an emotional connection and intuitive functionality through iterative design sessions with representative users, staff from disability agencies and support workers.

We have ensured ease of use by adherence to WCAG 2.0 AAA compliance and Apple's iOS Accessibility APIs, developer tools and utilities, particularly around speech synthesis to deliver text-to-speech functionality. User experience is enhanced through the use of the VEC's Easy English Guides for council elections and plain English information on enrolling and voting.Auslan footage is provided for deaf or hearing-impaired voters.Iterative testing with representative users ensured the design met customer expectations. Client ease of use is met with a Content Management System, providing customization opportunities, supporting changes based on built-in analytics and the ability to send notifications to voters

Our client and research from disability agencies indicates the free Voters Voice iPad app is the first of its type in the world. Other products leverage either expensive software solutions or custom physical boards that do not have capacity to provide information. No other solution offers tailored voting terminology. Our use of Apple's iOS Accessibility APIs, developer tools and utilities, particularly around speech synthesis to deliver text-to-speech functionality, show our commitment to the creative use of technology. The app also provides our client with rich data on usage and user need, driving better accessibility service delivery and decision making in government.

The design has been professionally executed employing human-centred design techniques, including collaborative design and iterative testing with representative users, staff from disability agencies and support workers. This approach ensured the execution of high usability and an appropriate information architecture.Our client and Scope had input into the content ensuring appropriateness for the intended audience. Our use of text-to-speech functionality, the design of the communications board and the Auslan content ensured connection with the target market.

Cost savings to the VEC were estimated to be in the range of $1M when considered against the cost of printing hardcopy communication boards and training up to 17,000 staff in the use of the boards for a State election event (as the VEC didn't know which centres users would attend - so all staff required training). This provides a massive and instant return on investment.The core modules can easily be taken up by other Government service departments, both at home and abroad, who can adjust content to suit. The app also gives a voice to those members of the community facing particular hardships due to a physical, degenerative or intellectual impairment who, in the main, do not have high disposable incomes.