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Abstract. In a typical design process, the decision making process by which desirable and predictive outcomes are achieved is clearly defined by problem definition, goals and objectives setting, design criteria development, design solution generation and evaluation of the solutions. In contrast, the current literature on Universal Design typically jumps from Universal Design as an ideal and set of principles to Universal Design as an artifact. Without interpreting Universal Design principles into specific design criteria, it is not possible to understand design intent, reliably evaluate design outcomes, replicate design processes or outcomes, or generalize findings to other products and environments. In this paper, an universal design process has been proposed and illustrated in a case study of a universally designed voting system in which Universal Design has been applied throughout the design process in a consistent and explicit way to produce a desirable Universal Design outcome.

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Voting systems must be usable by all eligible voters regardless of their skills, abilities, and experiences. However, current voting systems do not provide accessibility to all voters, including those with physical and cognitive limitations. To make voting easier for people with and without disabilities, we developed a universal voting interface that integrates a simplified and flexible ballot design that includes multimodal I/O interfaces. The formative usability study results demonstrate people with various types of disabilities could perform the voting tasks on EZ Ballot using their preferred input. In order to refine the EZ Ballot interface, the study found the specific issues on design such as instruction, selection of candidates, confusion about going back, incorrect gestural interaction, and write-in interface.