Government Accessibility and Stakeholder Mental Models

Electronic governance is the information gateway for delivering and communicating government services through public websites. Today, 56.7 million individuals in the United States and more than 550 million worldwide who have some form of disability, navigate and process these e-governance solutions differently. Past research regarding government website accessibility has long been focused on evaluations, content analysis, web accessibility guidelines, and tools for testing accessibility. In each of these studies, research has looked at the post production of a live website, but very few has examined the mental model of accessibility of stakeholders and content creators.

This research looks to examine how stakeholder and designer mental models of inclusive government websites differ. It also looks to answer whether current government website accessibility knowledge has increased awareness by comparing managers knowledge with practitioners knowledge

Accessibility Requirements for Government Websites

The promise through the Obama Administration to the American public was to develop quality government services while striving to become more transparent, therefore leading to more efficient and effective information to all end users. As government strives to attain these goals and focuses on the needs of every citizen; have they been mindful of those users who have accessibility barriers to the same information? It is essential that all citizens have the same equal access to all government resources. In addition, agencies should continue to evaluate their informational service needs while planning and implementing their digital strategies. This paper looks into the history, requirements, technologies, non-accessible material, and best practices of today while also looking at the progression of this movement throughout history.

e-Governance: Hyper Localized Government Services

A topic on mobile design given in a TED Talk video format. I spoke about artificial intelligence and transparency in local government. Using Google Now and Alexa to interact with homeowners and their local government (permit process, garbage day, 311 system, notification systems, etc)

Government Website Accessibility

Government websites and e-government are the information gateway for many city, county and state taxpayers. Agencies around the globe make information available, provide forms for electronic filing, give their patrons a digital place to perform transactions and read the viewpoints of their governing bodies. For many, it is simply typing a few characters into a search box and within a couple clicks they have all their information.

Do all visitors have the same access? For the 56.7 million individuals in the United States and more than 550 million worldwide [Rutter, 2006] who have some form of disability, these procedures of getting the same information are not so simple. This study will look at the informational accessibility from a local government level and how to make this transparent information more available.

Business Cards

Utilizing the information from group feedback and the style tiles project, I proceded to create a brand identity to formulate and design business cards. Creating a font based logo utilizing my initials on the front with the primary color from the style tiles and following up with the website URL under to direct people where to get further information. On the reverse side, I decided to pull the polar chart sections on the website and reiterate them on the back of the business card to create continuity with the website.

Style Tiles - www.davidhankes.com

This project created style tiles for a personal portfolio which helps the design deliverables of fonts, colors and interface elements communicate the overall visual brand for a project. Style tiles allow the design and its corresponding elements communicate the information to the client or stakeholders and provides a catalyst for further discussion.

Barbeque Worldwide

Using the Five Hat Racks process, I researched the history of barbeque and how it came to be throughout the world until present day. I took the data collected and applied the L.A.T.C.H (Locatiom, Alpha, Time, Category, and Hierarchy) methodology to produce a final categorical infographic.

Process Flow Diagraming - Snow Thrower

The task was to diagram the process flow of a game, process, or single user interaction which achieves a specific goal. I chose the process of using a snow thrower during a snow storm. The end project entailed creating all the graphics and diagraming the process in detail utilizing Axure.

Flow Diagram - Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame Application

The group project was detailing an idea of making the user experience at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame better, utilizing all of the digital media and technology the museum has on site. This Flow diagram shows how the mobile application would allow a user to "tour like a rock star" and experience a museum tour like no other.