[Date Prev][Date Next] [Chronological] [Thread] [Top]

RE: Add separate initial instruction text file to VIBS

This is a focus on the final portion of the VIBS WI script. It comes from the attachment of my last email on this topic.
(If this needs to have its own subject, that is fine. At this point I do not know.)

Anyway, the possible voter confusion at this point in the program is very understandable, and I believe something needs to be done to address it.

Starting from when the voter has input the WI name as desired, and is about to follow the prompts to accept it... (blue text identifies my discussion and blue bold my desired changes.)

You have entered D A V E space S M I T H.

To enter letters of the candidate’s name, press keys 2 through 9. Pressing a key multiple times will cycle through the letters assigned to that key. For a space between names, press 1.  These instructions will repeat.

To delete H, press *.

To accept your entries and vote for this write-in candidate, press 0.

This audio repeats in sequence until you press either *, 0, or 2 through 9.

Pressing 0 initiates:

You have chosen to vote for write-in candidate D A V E space S M I T H.

To confirm, press 5. This will cause confusion later when the 5 key is used to cancel the vote for write-in candidate. Make this be a 0 key press if at all possible.

To continue entering write-in candidate, press 1.

To cancel your write-in vote, press 0. This causes confusion because up until now (except during the initial entry into the write-in area) pressing 0 has been an affirmation of your previous choices. After this many uses of the 0 key as an affirmation, it gets to be second nature. Now, suddenly and counter-intuitively, it reverts to being a negative and completely deletes all of your letter choices. This is bad after all of the work that has gone into choosing the candidate. An accidental press of the 0 key here is disastrous. Make this be a 5 key press, like the upcoming choice if at all possible.

This audio repeats in sequence until you press either 5, 0, or 1.

Pressing 5 currently initiates:

You have chosen to vote for write-in candidate D A V E space S M I T H.

To cancel your vote for write-in candidate D A V E space S M I T H, press 5. This is unexpected since just prior to this message, pressing 5 confirms the choice. Now, suddenly and counter-intuitively, it reverts to being a negative and completely deletes all of your letter choices. This is bad after all of the work that has gone into choosing the candidate. An accidental press of the 5 key here is disastrous. To fix, switch the 5 and 0 key options in the previous prompts if possible. This makes the immediately preceding prompt of a negative response being a 5 key fall in line with the current prompt, thus eliminating the unexpected reversal and the potential for thinking that a five here is also a positive choice.

To advance to the next race, press 6.

This audio repeats in sequence until you press either 5, or 6.

Pressing 5 currently deletes your write-in vote. This happened to Jim Kracht. He was very surprised and not happy.

Mark (hoping his decision to leave the subject as is meets with approval)


At 1/19/2002 02:24 AM, you wrote:
For responses to Ken's post, see below.

For latest work up of write-in script changes, see bottom.

For an in-depth example using the VIBS write-in script with my latest revisions see attached file. Note that the attached example brings out some very confusing points at the acceptance phase of the write-in voting section. Some possible solutions are given, but it may not be possible to implement. These problems are to me the biggest problems with the write-in portion of VIBS.

At 1/18/2002 07:16 PM, you wrote:
From: owner-rcr@dieboldes.com [mailto:owner-rcr@dieboldes.com]On Behalf Of Mark S Earley
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2002 3:23 PM

 
In the future please follow up to the original posts, which were great.  We track change requests by subject, and "mods for Fl" isn't the subject of anything.

My mistake. I do understand why that is important. My mental batteries were running low. If you want me to repost this with a different subject, no problem.

 
VIBS Changes Required by the Florida Division of Elections

They are not required by any Forida statute.  Florida does not get to dictate the scripts.  In fact, these scripts can be customized by the counties.  We don't go back for certification if one of our customers wants to change some of the wording.  This needs to be acknolodged and addressed, or it is going to bite you in the ass later.

I guess we can sue them and try to force them to certify us. I strongly stated these points to them many times on Jan 11. And, BTW, my ass already feels raw.

 
 A. VIBS Welcome:
The 5 key has a raised feature to help the voter maintain orientation with the keypad.



None of my business, but I don't see a raised feature in the picture Ian posted today.

The keypad used in the certification eval had a raised horizontal line along the bottom third of the 5 key. The line "sagged" in the center so the pad of a finger would rest in the sag. Rotate a close parenthesis ) 90 degrees clockwise and you will get an idea of what the Division is expecting on the 5 Key. They are expecting the production keypads to be essentially identical to the one Jeff Hallmark sent in for certification. They will consider units sold otherwise to not be certified.
B. VIBS Instructions
The main navigation keys are the 4, 5, and 6 keys. Pressing the 4 key moves you backward through the ballot to the previous candidate or race. Pressing the 5 key selects or unselects a candidate. Pressing the 6 key moves you forward through the ballot to the next candidate or race.



Okay, we have an issue here.  For states that allow voters to not have to listen to all candidates (everywhere but Florida), there is a GEMS flag to allow the 8 and 2 keys to jump directly to the next/prev race.  The instructions are fixed and have to work for both these cases.  Other flags will probably be added in the future as needs arise.  Its a generic problem.
 

Why wasn't this brought up back when I first posted these changes on Jan 12? The response I got then was: Feel free to make any modifications to the instructions that you feel are appropriate. This offer has stood for a long time. We are in no way wed to the current text.
I will be the first to admit that I do not know anything about the underlying programming of VIBS nationwide, or really in FL for that matter. Yet I am the one making the modifications. What mechanism keeps that audio from playing in the Florida scripts? Also, the only database I have here to experiment with is the Buena Vista VIBS from Georgia. I hear no mention of 8 or 2 keys in that script. Perhaps whatever mechanism prevents these script choices from playing on these VIBS ballots can allow this modification of the VIBS Instructions (which I have shown to everyone without objection until now) be used.

Since instructions are given to the voter on what each key does every candidate, I don't understand how putting them in the intro instructions helps.  Its just redundant, with no additional information given to the voter.  You can make a custom script for Florida certification if that is what it takes, but this can't be the stock audio that ships with GEMS.
 

I agree 80% with this statement. The only problem, and I saw it first hand, is that often the voter does not listen to the instructions after each candidate, then they get into trouble. I am trying to state at the outset the most basic navigation concepts so the voter will hear them. Also, when the voter does get into a mess and finally (hopefully) presses the 0 key for help, it would be good for this info to be given again. As it stands now, the instruction, which repeats as a help text upon voter pressing 0 key is:
Each race and candidate will present a list of keypad options to cast votes and navigate the ballot.  You do not have to listen to all keypad options before making your selection.  To replay these instructions at any time, press zero.

That script gives very little information to a voter looking for help. It also encourages the voter to press keys without fully listening to the instructions. Not a very good approach for a person who might only use the VIBS ballot every two years on average.

That said, I think the instructions as they stand now, without any of "my" revisions, work well. I am only plunging into this mess because I was sent to the "No Fail" demo held in FL on Jan 11.
Other keys will be explained if and when needed.



 
That sentence does not contain information.
 

Like the VIBS Instructions above, my version of this sentence was present in my post of Jan 12 and elicited no negative response. Conceptually, the sentence alerts voters that other options will be available and that they should be listening carefully to later instructions. The tendency of the voter to assume they "understand it all" is one I am trying to combat. It leads to frequent erroneous keystrokes by the voter, which gets them in trouble. Letting the voter know in advance that more keystrokes will be available later on and that they should be alert for them is, in my opinion, an important thing to do. It also helps avoid a more detailed instruction set that some have wanted to initiate, but which can get very wordy and complex.
FWIW, my version was originally:
Other key options will be available and will be explained in certain situations.

B. VIBS Write-In Instructions:
To enter letters of the candidates name, press keys 2 through 9. For a space between names, press 1.  If you get confused during the write-in process, instructions will be repeated after a brief pause.



 
Two out of three of those sentences (16 out of 35 words) explains that this paragraph will be repeated.
 

Several points:


Ken
 

Latest Revisions to VIBS Write-In scripts
A. VIBS Write-In Welcome:
Please listen carefully to all instructions while voting the write-in ballot. For write-in candidate names, letters are assigned to the keys according to the standard telephone keypad.  Pressing a key multiple times will cycle through the letters assigned to that key.  If you are unsure of which key a letter is assigned to, press various keys until you get close to the letter you want, then press that key several times to locate the correct letter. When you have found the letter you want, pause for more instructions.

B. VIBS Write-In Instructions:
To enter letters of the candidate’s name, press keys 2 through 9. Pressing a key multiple times will cycle through the letters assigned to that key. For a space between names, press 1. These instructions will repeat.
C. VIBS Write-In Accept:
To accept your entries and vote for this write-in candidate, press 0.
I do understand that the sentence "Pressing a key multiple times will cycle..." is repeated in the Welcome and in the Instructions. I think it is a redundancy that is minor and is maybe helpful. If people disagree, I would remove it from the Welcome and leave it in the Instructions. Note also that the sentence about repetition is shortened. The previous longer version is what was suggested by Jim Kracht. I tried to use his suggestions whenever possible to show good faith towards his input.

Please take the time to examine the attached file. Especially the ending phase of the write-in section.

Mark