Barriers for elderly people

Elderly people often suffer from the same limitations as people with disabilities. Many are long-sighted, have motor disabilities (e. g. because of arthritis or Parkinson's disease), a decreasing short-term memory or hearing problems. The decrement of these abilities can start even before the age of 50.

Low contrasts and small fonts

Elderly people have difficulties to identify small fonts or symbols. This is especially problematic if the developer has defined fixed fonts and thus the font size cannot be increased by the Internet Explorer. The reading of text also is difficult if the contrast between font and background is too low.

Foreign words and technical terms

Most English and technical terms are not understood by elderly people who are newcomers to the Internet. Many of them were not able to learn a foreign language at school. Terms used for navigation through websites which are well-known by younger people cannot be assumed to be known by elderly people. Common English terms are for example FAQ, Sitemap, Submit or Event.

Navigation and Links

For elderly people it is not easy to use pop-up menus or navigation paths which afford a straight and speedy movement of the hand. The calm movement of the mouse is difficult for many of them. Small icons or links which are too close to each other therefore cannot be selected pinpointed enough. Often elderly Internet users click on the wrong link if there are several of them close to each other.

Unknown File formats

Usually websites are designed by young web designers for young audiences. Flashfilms, video and audio files are exciting for young surfers. Many elderly users do not open the files if the programs to handle them are missing. Elderly people who are new to using the Internet are doubtful if they are asked to install a program.