Older people

Summary #

An older person (“senior”) belongs to a category of people whose definition varies according to context: work, health, etc. Regarding health, the World Health Organisation defines an older person as being over 60 years old. They estimate that between 2000 and 2050 this population will double on a world level, going from 11% to 22%. According to INSERM, French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, the decline in cognitive abilities begins at 45.

Age-related disabilities impact our use of digital technologies.

Obstacles found #

Obstacles found by people suffering from age-related disabilities can be numerous:

• Lower vision: lower sensitivity to contrast, colour blindness, lower capacity to concentrate on close objects, make it difficult to read a digital resource.
• Lower motor capabilities: lower dexterity, fine motor control, make it difficult to handle a mouse and to click on smaller elements.
• Lower hearing: lower ability to perceive high-pitched sounds, to separate sounds, make it difficult to listen to audio documents (especially in a noisy environment).
• Lower cognitive capabilities: lower short-term memory, concentration, make it difficult to browse and achieve tasks.

Examples of solutions #

Lower vision #

• The user can set the size of all the text contents in the application.
• Colour contrasts are high.
• Videos feature audiodescription or a text transcript.
• Images feature a text alternative.

Lower motor capacities #

• Keyboard navigation makes it easy to use all functionalities without any keyboard trap.
• Focus is always very visible.
• Clickable zones are large enough (for instance in mobile applications: width and height at least the equivalent of 48 px)

Lower hearing #

• Videos feature captions or a text transcript

Lower cognitive capabilities #

• Every screen has the same logic regarding content organisation and navigation
• Interface components (links, buttons, etc.) area easily identifiable
• One can pause or stop moving elements and sounds
• There is no time limit for an action
• Field label texts are explicit, a help mechanism is available if needed, errors in input are identified and explained
• Help is available for the user