Older adult accessibility blog series introduction

Posted by Paul Crichton on 27th June 2017.

What do older adults hate about websites?

To celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2017, we focussed on the accessibility needs of older adults. As part of that, we interviewed several older adults about what they liked and disliked about the internet.

Some of the things that irritated them, such as pop-ups and adverts, are things that can drive us all to distraction. But they also identified a few things that are more specific, or had a more profound impact for them than other user groups.

It isn’t all doom and gloom, however. The interviews showed that this age group are online and when they find websites that they like, they are enthusiastic about them. The convenience of shopping, banking and staying in touch with friends and family is just as appreciated by older adults as everyone else. They just need a little consideration to make life easier.

We’ve looked at some of the issues that our interviewees identified in a bit more detail, and some of the steps that can be taken to make your website more age-friendly.

Older adult accessibility issue 1: Contrast and readability

Older adult accessibility issue 2: Text size and readability

Older adult accessibility issue 3: Clickable areas

Older adult accessibility issue 4: Movement

Older adult accessibility issue 5: Peripheral vision

Older adult accessibility issue 6: Mystery icons