of 2009) that would require all voting machines
to allow for independent verifications of voting,
with paper trails. Voting machines remain a hot
topic. Even without federal action, many states
have decertified their existing voting machines to
require paper verification during the next election,
or at least that it be phased in over the next few
elections. For many states, that means switching
from the touch-screen machines to optical-scan
machines. And for voters, that means learning yet
another voting-machine interface, which will no
doubt be challenging.
Finally, for many people in the U.S., government
defines the perception of “usability.” The usability.
gov website is the starting point for many Web
searchers looking for basic information on usabil-
ity. When I searched on Google, it’s the second
result, after Wikipedia, and before groups like the
Usability Professionals Association.

interactions

Policy Comes From Many Different Sources
Public policy is complex because it comes in
many different forms from many different
sources. International stakeholders in design-
related public policy include the non-govern-
mental organizations such as the World Wide
Web consortium, and professional organizations,
such as ACM SIGCHI (Special Interest Group
Photograph by Phil Stefans