The Internet wasn’t originally envisioned for general consumer use. It was text-based, slow, and required the user to overcome a significant learning curve to use it. When the World Wide Web came into being as a graphical environment (simple as it was when it first started), it opened up the Internet as a tool for everyone else.
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Today we use the Internet for person-to-person communication, banking, buying and selling, paying our taxes, playing games, getting the news, and getting information about those myriad issues of everyday life.
No one can say now that the Internet is as ubiquitous as television, but it has become an undeniable and vital tool of business and is quickly being accepted into people’s homes. Nearly every demographic in the
Older adults are active and enthusiastic participants in this trend, yet there is little acknowledgment of their unique needs and preferences in the design of application interfaces and devices. Part of the reason for this is the lack of data about what, precisely, these needs and preferences are.
The key purpose of the Older Wiser Wired initiative is to encourage better understanding and awareness of the needs of older adults.
AARP is working to develop a Community of Practice around usability for older adults. The Older Wiser Wired initiative is meant to bring together developers, designers, engineers, researchers, and the older adults themselves to make technology both easier and more enjoyable to use as we grow older.
The latest developments from the Older Wiser Wired initiative can be viewed here.
Presentations can be downloaded from about:
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Designing Web Sites for Older Adults: Expert Review of 50 Web Sites
This research applies heuristics through a new model of older adult use of the Web. The model is applied to 50 web sites that are likely to be used by an older adult in the normal course of their day and reveals ways that sites could do better to increase their usability for everyone.
Recruiting and Working With Older Participants
This article provides tips for recruiting and working with older adults in usability tests.
Working to Bridge the Digital Divide
Mark Carpenter, AARP Services’ General Manager Web Strategy and Operations, discusses the need to bridge the « grey » digital divide globally in Perspectives, AARP’s monthly column on issues that have an impact on the 50+ population worldwide.
Usable Technology for Human Needs
In an interview with AARP, Dr. Ben Shneiderman sat down with us to talk about how his message of universal usability goes straight to the heart of AARP’s interest in promoting a better experience for older users on the Web.
Getting By With A Little Help From One’s Kids
AARP has released Wired Generations, a report that describes how adult children are helping their parents and older relatives with computers and technology and making a positive difference in their lives.
This information was taken from the AARP web site.