(Re)Design de uma plataforma de voto acessível.
Correia, Constança Margarida Freire
MSc Thesis · 2025 · University of Coimbra
Supervisors: Paula Alexandra Gomes da Silva, Tiago José dos Santos Martins da Cruz
Abstract
People with disabilities face difficulties in voting secretly due to the lack of accessibility incurrent voting systems. This problem is important because the right to vote must be guaranteed to all citizens, regardless of their abilities, and the exclusion of people with disabilities from electoral participation undermines fairness in the democratic process. This dissertation aimed to analyze, redesign, and evaluate the Accessible Vote platform to make the electoral process more inclusive, focusing on people with upper-limb disabilities and visual impairments. Using a human-centered design approach, the dissertation considered the needs of these users from the very beginning of the process. The redesign requirements were gathered through the analysis of the first version of the platform, the application of a WebContent Accessibility Guidelines(WCAG) checklist, real-world election observations, and user interviews. Based on these requirements, low, medium, and high-fidelity prototypes were developed. An accessible visual identity was created and applied to the high-fidelity prototype, which served as the basis for implementation.The new version integrated features such as typography customization and a modular ballot, an alternative idea to the traditional ballot. The platform was validated through usability testing with eight participants, both with and without disabilities, following the criteria of the Usability and Accessibility Seal.Participants completed tasks with few errors, achieving an average score of 90,62 on theSystem Usability Scale (SUS), which reflects high levels of usability. The average NetPromoter Score (NPS) of 9,25 further reinforces this positive perception, highlighting overall satisfaction with the redesign of the Accessible Vote platform. The contributions of this dissertation are relevant to the fields of inclusive design, digital accessibility, and voting systems.