Designing for elderly - any links you could share?
Hi,
Am just in the discovery stage of a project, whose usergroup will be primarily elderly.
I've done lots of W3C/WAI accessible work, however I haven't designed specifically for the elderly before. So does anyone have any helpful links or suggested reading material they could share?
Much appreciated!
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Thank you for asking. I am not surprised that you have to ask. W3C, WAI, et al., all work from kindly principles and rules which cunfuse rather than help. I work from the disability, low vision, because I have it. There are those that still read with their eyes but not well and those that read with their ears via text to speech technology.
For the eye readers, please ask me for my file "Accessibility for Eye Readers". It ties the fixes, workarounds, and accommodations to the two items of eye health we can deal with: acuity and contrast sensitivity.
gfmueden@verizon.net
For poor acuity, sharpness of focus, we need maggnification with word wrap.
For poor contrast sensitivity we need choice of font for incoming text.
These two things, built into our software, can be disabled by thoughtless formatting, so always ask for feedback on new work and have some ear and eye readerss take a look for you.
Good luck. ===gm===
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Hi Cormac
I know this is a bit late, but I have only just joined the forum. Apologies if you no longer need this information.
Being older does not does not give you a specific disability however you are more likely to have an age-related impairment e.g. deteriorating sight and hearing, you may have dexterity problems making using a mouse difficult etc.
Also there may be a lack of familiarity with computers and websites means good signposting around the site, using simple English, consistent layout and behaviour are all good practices
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I am doing some research for a accessibility project that I have been assigned to. This information here is quite helpful in giving me a feel for the needs of the elderly. I really appreciate the input!
Thank you!
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