Web Accessibility and Older People - not as straighforward as you think?

Older people and web accessibility –not as straightforward as you think?

David Sloan@sloandr

21st September 2011a11yLDN,

City University, London

(Good to be in the warm south!)

David Sloan 21 September 2011 2

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kreidphotography/4258012264

Overview:

1. Web accessibility and older people2. Existing best practice3. Current and future research directions


Older Web Users and Accessibility:

it’s important!

Population increase in UK – projections for mid 2008-2033Source: Office of National Statistics


Two main UK policy challenges:

1. Encouraging older people to become web users (lots of attention so far – Race Online etc)

2. Supporting older web users in sustaining access, minimising disengagement (less attention)


Age-related accessibility issues

1. Sensory: Vision, Hearing2. Motor: Dexterity3. Cognitive– Fluid intelligence (relating to processing and

reasoning, aptitude for learning, working memory, visual attention)


Understanding age-related accessibility issues

1. Chronological age is not a reliable indicator of capability or performance. Also consider:

– Ability– Aptitude– Attitude

Chisnell and Redish (2004) Designing Web sites for Older Adults: Expert review of Usability for Older adults at 50 web sites.



2. Issues highly individual, in terms of:– The accessibility issue(s) a person may have– The way in which these issues were acquired– The rate that these issues change in severity– The impact of these issues individually and in

combination



3. Some capabilities are less prone to decline over time:

– Crystallised intelligence – knowledge acquired through learning and life experience

– May help explain older people’s relatively high success levels in ill-defined search tasks


Research and development

• Lots of HCI and cognitive science research on ageing and technology use

• Output from organisations supporting older people – e.g. US National Institute on Aging

• Some commercial interest in sharing findings (Nielsen-Norman Group, WebCredible)


Output? Lots of guidelines!

• Some of them extremely prescriptive; some at odds with modern web development

• Some may introduce new issues• Sign of a gulf between

ageing/technology research and the people designing the technology?


WAI-AGE: trying to bridge the gap


Social nature of accessibility and ageing


Social acceptability of accessibility solutions

• Some are mainstream, and accepted…some are not


Ways forward: for authors and developers• Follow WCAG; look at age-related guidelines• Focus on reducing cognitive load – usability is

key• Be sensitive to additional needs of older

people – involve older people throughout user experience design

• Be sensitive to perceptions and awareness of “accessibility”


Ways forward: Supporting changing access needs• Simplifying the browsing experience– HTML 5 Form elements; AJAX for usability– Desktop and mobile apps – remove the browser UI!

• Accommodating age-related capability change– Capability detection and gradual accessibility

adaptation – e.g. SUS-IT project http://sus-it.lboro.ac.uk

• Better involvement of accessibility in part of older people browsing skills acquisition


Ways forward: Involving older people more effectively in web design• Taking advantage of the crystallised knowledge

of older web users– Involving older people in participatory design– User interface paradigms and metaphors that are

recognisable and appropriate• Understanding more about how older people

acquire and apply skills to use the Web– Ethnography of older people as Web learners and users

• Cognitive modelling of specific behavioursDavid Sloan 21 September 2011 17

Summary• Older web users are not a homogeneous group• Older web users may have accessibility needs –

but may not know it or have the appropriate technology

• Focus on reducing cognitive demand on browsing

• This problem won’t go away unless we all work to evangelise and practice UCD with older people (including our future selves)


Acknowledgments• Paula Forbes (photos)• Sergio Sayago (insight from ethnography with

older web users)


THANKYOU!

email: [email protected]: @sloandr

blogs: www.58sound.com --- blog.dundee.ac.uk/eaccessibilitywork: www.dmag.org.uk --- www.computing.dundee.ac.uk

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Web Accessibility and Older People - not as straighforward as you think?

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