Overivew

I’m a passionate researcher who loves getting to the heart of user needs. I have worked with various at-risk groups, but most of my research has focused on working with low literate users.

I recently finished my dissertation which examined the relationship of literacy, school attainment, and search habits. We found that students, enrolled at an urban, four-year university had mainly similar search behaviors and online reading habits independent of literacy, especially when compared to non-degree seeking, low literate users.

I have also worked with persons with disabilities to test voting equipment and online ballot marking tools. I have enjoyed helping remove barriers to voting for all people, and hope to continue to do so.

Lab Experience

  • Graduate Assistant at University of Baltimore
    • Information Technology & Innovation Foundation Grant
      • During my time working on this grant I helped facilitate research for a mobile-based ballot marking system. The purpose of the system was to allow otherwise disenfranchised voters from being able to vote in their homes, using the assistive technology that they used on a daily basis. The system would not cast their ballot for them, but would generate a ballot (or something similar) that they would send it as a mail-in or take to a polling location to cast.
      • I helped with the following tasks:
        • Note taking during research session
        • Analyzing results to help inform final design decisions
        • Participant recruitment, specifically low literate users
      • I was a co-author on the final paper
    • Maryland State Board of Elections Grant
      • During my time working on this grant, I helped to facilitate research with the disabled community to recommend a ballot marking machine for use at Maryland polling locations. Prior to this research, ballot marking machines were not accessible to disabled persons and they had to rely on polling volunteers to help them cast their votes. Voting autonomously is important for all voters so they can feel confident in their vote.
      • I helped with the following tasks:
        • Recruiting disabled participants through a partnership with the National Federation for the Blind
        • Note taking during research sessions
          • Error counting
        • Analyzing the results to help inform the selection of a ballot marking machine
      • I was co-author on the final paper
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology Grant
      • During my time working on this grant, I helped create an annotated bibliography that would be used to inform future research at NIST.

Research Publications

  • Summers, K., Alton, N.T., Haraseyko, A., & Sherard, R. (2018). Bridging the digital divide: One smartphone at a time. In Marcus, A., and Wang, W. (eds) Design, User Experience, and Usability: Designing Interactions. DUXU 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10919. Springer, Cham.
  • Alton, N.T., Rinn, C., Summers, K., Straub, K. (2014). Using eye-tracking and form completion data to optimize form instruction. International Professional Communication, 2014. IPCC 2014, IEEE International, pp. 1–8.
  • Summers, K., Chisnell, D., Davis, D., Alton, N. T., & McKeever, M. (2014). Making voting accessible: Designing digital ballot marking for people with low literacy and mild cognitive disabilities. In 2014 Electronic Voting Technology Workshop/Workshop on Trustworthy Elections (EVT/WOTE 14).
  • Alton, N. T. (2013). Decorative and indicative contrast: When a good thing goes bad. International Professional Communication Conference, 2013. IPCC 2013, IEEE International, pp.1–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.2013.6623919
  • Alton, N. T., & Manning, A. (2012). The effect of color, visual form, and textual information on information overload. In J.B. Strother, J.M. Ulijn & Z. Fazal (Eds.), Information Overload: An International Challenge to Professional Engineers and Technical Communicators (pp. 103–121). New York: Wiley.
  • Alton, N. T., & Rosenquist, C. (2011). Getting the message across: A peircean analysis of environmental websites. International Processional Communication Conference, 2011. IPCC 2011. IEEE International, pp. 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.2011.6087240
  • Alton, N. T., & Manning, A. (2009). Refining specifications of decorative/indicative balance in menu design. International Processional Communication Conference, 2009. IPCC 2009. IEEE International. pp. 1–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.2009.5208701

Conference Presentations

  • Summers, K., Alton, N.T., Haraseyko, A., & Sherard, R. (2018, July). Bridging the digital divide: One smartphone at a time. Design, User Experience, and Usability Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
  • Alton, N.T., Rinn, C., Summers, K., Straub, K. (2014, October). Using eye-tracking and form completion data to optimize form instruction. International Professional Communication Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Rinn, C., Alton, N.T., Summers, K., & Straub, K. (2014, July). (Self-)Service Design: Eye-tracking findings that will help you design forms that everyone can use. User Experience Professional Association Conference, London.
  • Alton, N. T. (2013, July). Decorative and indicative contrast: When a good thing goes bad. International Professional Communication Conference: Communicating Globally, Vancouver, BC.
  • Kemeny, M., Kerber, N., Summers, K., Alton, N. T., & McKeever, M. (2013, July). Rich search results for low literacy web use. User Experience Professional Association Conference, Washington, D.C.
  • Alton, N. T., & Rosenquist, C. (2011, October). Getting the message across: A peircean analysis of environmental websites. International Processional Communication: Communicating Sustainability, Cincinnati, OH.
  • Alton, N. T., & Manning, A. (2009, July). Refining specifications of decorative/indicative balance in menu design. Paper presented at International Processional Communication Conference: Po’okela (Commitments to Excellence), Honolulu, HI.