Awhile
back there was a wave of adorable grandmas tagging themselves as rapper
Grandmaster Flash —
albeit inadvertently. While simply a humorous footnote to those less
adept at using technology, it brings up the important point that when
designing for seniors we need to make recognize the difficulties they
may face.
And
why do grandma and grandpa matter to the tech industry? They’re the
fastest-growing demographic on the internet. Over 60% of American
seniors are online and, says Pew Research,
growing. Given this generation of seniors is expected to be the
wealthiest ever, it would be imprudent not to cater to this
demographic.
When
designing for seniors it is important to recognize that they can face
physical challenges and may have difficulties learning new
technologies. Key areas for design considerations are vision and
hearing, motor control, cognitive processing, and a lack of experience
with technology.
This
may sound like extra work, but it isn’t: websites that are better
designed for seniors are generally better for everyone. Let’s take a
look at a few sites that get it right.
AARP
With nearly 38 million members, the AARP’s mission is
to enhance the quality of life for all as they age, and they have made
key design decisions to accommodate seniors on their website. The site
uses large text throughout, a san serif font for easy reading and uses
warm colors. As vision declines, so does one’s ability to discriminate
certain hues. Seniors are more apt to confuse colors in the blue-green
region of the spectrum. Red, yellow and orange, as well as high
contrast throughout the site, makes it much easier to navigate.
Information overload is a common problem identified by older users. Too
much information on the page makes it hard to focus on what’s relevant.
AARP recognizes this and its clean site uses large headlines and
concise descriptions to separate and differentiate information.
Social
Security AdministrationThe Social Security Administration website
has been quietly rolling out new features and updates, and citizens are
starting to notice. In 2014, the SSA achieved an excellent rating in
the ForeSee 2014 E-Government Satisfaction Index,
even out-performing several top private-sector brands, including Amazon
and Apple. In 2016, the SSA had the highest score of all public-sector
sites.
This is because the Social Security Administration’s website has great
accessibility. In addition to supporting multiple languages and sign
language, seniors who find it difficult to read online can use the
BrowseAloud function to have text spoken. The site also offers web
accessibility help with information on increasing text size, magnifying
the screen and changing background and text colors.
Road
Scholar
Formerly Elderhostel, Road Scholar is the
nation’s first and world’s largest educational and travel organization
for adults 55+. Road Scholar incorporates generous text size in their
website design and a simplified menu. Also, the replacement of fly-out
menus with menu that open with a single click is a key design choice to
help seniors who struggle with precise motor movements. For this reason,
larger button sizes have been incorporated throughout.
The site has two other great features for all audiences: The contact
number appears prominently on all pages and the site is responsive,
allowing for optimal viewing on any device.
As the
senior demographic grows and becomes increasingly tech savvy, we need
to be cognizant of constraints many seniors face and make greater
efforts to build inclusive websites. Key considerations designers need
to be aware of are vision and hearing, motor control, and cognitive
processing. If you’re just getting started in designing senior-friendly
websites, here are a few useful references:
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