The Universal Usability Laboratory is a joint project of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences and the Center for Applied Information Technology at Towson University. The director of the Universal Usability Laboratory is Dr. Jonathan Lazar. While the lab was formally created in May, 2003, it is based on a research group that Dr. Lazar has led since January 2002. The lab is located on the 4th floor of the YR building at Towson University.
Current research projects at the Universal Usability Laboratory include:
-Developing new web-based security tools that are both secure and universally accessible
-Studying webmaster perceptions of web accessibility
-Understanding how teenagers and young adults with Down Syndrome interact with computers
-Understanding user frustration with computers in the workplace
-Examining web accessibility trends over time
-Improving the usability of government statistics presented on the web
-Addressing user error in web interface design
-New methods for incorporating user involvement into web development processes
-Understanding the challenges that blind users face using screen readers
to browse the web
-Understanding how user frustrations impact on user mood
More information on the research is available on recent lab-related publications.
Students recently involved in research projects include:
Aaron Allen (undergraduate)
Jessica Daniel (masters)
Kisha-Dawn Greenidge (masters)
Jon Holman (undergraduate)
Yan Huang (masters)
Adam Jones (undergraduate, masters, and doctoral)
Jason Kleinman (masters)
Chris Malarkey (undergraduate)
Yogesh Nagappa (masters)
Graig Sauer (doctoral)
Jared Smulison (undergraduate)
Brian Wentz (doctoral)
Faculty recently involved in research projects include:
James Clements
Alfreda Dudley-Sponaugle
Heidi Feng
Robert Hammell
Scott Hilberg
Harry Hochheiser
Gabriele Meiselwitz
Kathy Wang