135 research outputs found
The ABCD of usability testing
We introduce a methodology for tracking and auditing feedback, errors and suggestions for software packages. This short paper describes how we innovate on the evaluation mechanism, introducing an (Antecedent, Barrier, Consequence and Development) ABCD form, embedded within an eParticipation platform to enable end users to easily report on any usability issues. This methodology will be utilised to improve the STEP cloud eParticipation platform (part of the current STEP Horizon2020 project http://step4youth.eu. The platform is currently being piloted in real life contexts, with the participation of public authorities that are integrating the eParticipation platform into their regular decision-making practices. The project is involving young people, through engagement and motivation strategies and giving them a voice in Environmental decision making at the local level. The pilot evaluation aims to demonstrate how open engagement needs to be embedded within public sector processes and the usability methodology reported here will help to identify the key barriers for wide scale deployment of the platform
Usability and digital inclusion: standards and guidelines
This article aims at discussing e-government website usability in relation to concerns about
digital inclusion. E-government web design should consider all aspects of usability, including
those that make it more accessible to all. Traditional concerns of social exclusion are being
superseded by fears that lack of digital competence and information literacy may result in dangerous
digital exclusion. Usability is considered as a way to address this exclusion and should
therefore incorporate inclusion and accessibility guidelines. This article makes an explicit link
between usability guidelines and digital inclusion and reports on a survey of local government
web presence in Portugal
Effects of branching spatial structure and life history on the asymptotic growth rate of a population
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Theoretical Ecology 3 (2010): 137-152, doi:10.1007/s12080-009-0058-0.The dendritic structure of a river network creates directional dispersal and a hierarchical
arrangement of habitats. These two features have important consequences for the
ecological dynamics of species living within the network.We apply matrix population models to a stage-structured population in a network of habitat patches connected in a dendritic
arrangement. By considering a range of life histories and dispersal patterns, both constant
in time and seasonal, we illustrate how spatial structure, directional dispersal, survival, and
reproduction interact to determine population growth rate and distribution. We investigate
the sensitivity of the asymptotic growth rate to the demographic parameters of the model,
the system size, and the connections between the patches. Although some general patterns
emerge, we find that a species’ mode of reproduction and dispersal are quite important in its
response to changes in its life history parameters or in the spatial structure. The framework
we use here can be customized to incorporate a wide range of demographic and dispersal
scenarios.Funding for this work came from the James S. McDonnell Foundation (EEG, HJL, WFF). MGN was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (CMG-0530830, OCE-0326734, ATM-0428122)
Virginia rose bud
(Published By Lee & Walker, successors to George Willig
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