Presentation given at Congreso Internacional sobre Inclusión Digital y Aprendizaje (Digital Inclusion conference) at UNED, Madrid, 20 April 2012.

1. Supporting and
sustaining effective
use of ICT in later
life
David Sloan
@sloandr
20 de Abril 2012
Congreso Internacional sobre
Inclusión Digital y Aprendizaje
Madrid

2. Overview
• The importance of supporting ICT use by older
people
• Difficulties experienced by older ICT users
• Best practices in designing for older people
• Challenges for digital content providers
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 2

3. It’s nice to be here!
http://goo.gl/hIIm
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 3

4. Older ICT users:
a significant
population!
Population increase in UK – projections for mid 2008-2033
Source: Office of National Statistics
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5. Use of ICT by older people
• 4 million Internet users in UK aged over 65;
1.3 million new users since 2009
• Over-65s “fastest growing Facebook user
group”
• 20% of new iPad users are over 55
Figures quoted with reference to original sources in: Getting On -
A manifesto for older people in a networked nation (Race
Online 2012)
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 5

6. Opportunities ICT brings older
people
• Mobility Barriers eased
• Cost savings
• Wellbeing
• Independence
From: Getting On - A manifesto for older people in a networked
nation (Race Online 2012)
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 6

7. But – non-use is still an issue
• Reasons for Internet non-use amongst retired people in UK
(source Oxford Internet Survey 2011)
# Never used Gave up using
1 Just not interested Just not interested
2 Do not know how to use Computer no longer available
3 Not for people of my age Not for people of my age
4 Computer no longer Never figured it out
available
5 Too expensive Privacy worries
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 7

8. Profiling typical older ICT users?
Photo credit: Chris
Spencer
http://goo.gl/1e8JB
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 8

9. Age-related factors affecting ICT use
• Chronological age is not a reliable
indicator of capability or performance.
• Also consider:
– Capability (and related accessibility issues)
– Aptitude (technology experience)
– Attitude (anxiety, perseverance)
Chisnell and Redish (2004) Designing Web sites for Older
Adults: Expert review of Usability for Older adults at
50 web sites.
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 9

10. Ability and age-related capability
change
Capability issues are highly individual and
dynamic, in terms of:
– The resulting 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
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 10

11. Age-related capability change
1. Sensory: Vision, Hearing
2. Motor: Dexterity
3. Cognitive
– Fluid intelligence (relating to processing and
reasoning, aptitude for learning, working
memory, visual attention)
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 11

12. Age-related capability change
• 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
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 12

13. Attitude and aptitude
Could be affected by:
•Current technology
– Complexity and change
•Support networks
– Availability of help
•Life experience
– Education
– Technology generations
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 13

14. Technology generations
Lim (2010) Designing inclusive ICT products for older users: taking into
account the technology generation effect
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 14

15. Designing usable ICT for older
people
• Following principles of inclusive design
• Lots of guidelines!
– From gerontechnology research studies
– From usability/human computer interaction
research
– From web standards/web accessibility
• Sometimes there’s conflict…
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 15

16. Some clarity - from W3C WAI-AGE
http://www.w3.org/WAI/older-users/
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 16

17. Some research and development
challenges
• How can we better develop and provide ICT
that is sensitive to the needs of an ageing
population?
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 17

18. Special technology? Or raise
expectations of usability
• Some commercial ICT
products focus on
providing “simplified
computers”
• But when will YOU
decide you need a
“tout-et-un” Ordissimo tactile 24”
simplified computer?
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 18

19. Challenges for user profiling and
older ICT users
• Attitude to and awareness of impairments
– Self-denial, assumption of others’ perceptions of
one’s capabilities
– Result may be rejection of accessibility solutions
• A “Hierarchy of impairments” – means
reducing cognitive demand most important?
• Collaborative use of ICT:
– Whose accessibility needs are accommodated?
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 19

20. User-centred ICT research with
older people
• Involve older people in ICT policy, research
and development activity
• But may need to modify Human-Computer
Interaction activities:
– Methods
– Time, location, study materials
– Managing expectations of research outcomes
• Be aware of limits of applying results of a
specific study to “older people” in general
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 20

21. Sustaining ICT use over time
• Strong government
focus on “Getting older
people online”
• But how do we limit
disengagement with
and abandonment of
ICT by older people?
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 21

22. Example: SUS-IT project
• Developing an adaptation framework to
accommodate dynamic capability change
– Giving the right help at the right time
• Approach:
1. Monitor user activity
2. Identify potential signs of difficulty
3. Propose (or automatically apply) relevant adaptations
4. Enable undo and redo
http://sus-it.lboro.ac.uk/
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 22

23. Entertainment? Or saving lives?
• Perceptions of older people on ICT and quality
of life – having fun rather than surviving!
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 23

24. Example: Worthplay project
• 2011-2013 – CSIC funded project between
UPF, IIIA-CSIC, Dundee, Agora, Wake Studios
• What makes digital games worth playing by
older people?
– Ethnographic study of older people as digital game
players
– Participatory design, development and evaluation
of a novel digital game
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 24

25. Innovation in usable interface design
• Taking advantage of the crystallised knowledge
of older web users
• User interface paradigms and metaphors that
are recognisable and appropriate
• Help and error recovery more tailored to
techniques used by older ICT users
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 25

26. ICT for older people: a tool for social
inclusion!
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 26

27. Summary
• Older ICT users are not a homogeneous group
– may have accessibility needs – but may not know it or have
the appropriate technology
• Follow inclusive design guidelines…focus on reducing
cognitive demand on browsing
• Focus on quality of user experience rather than just
“solving accessibility problems”
– Involve older people in a user-centered design process
• Look at the opportunities of new ICTs
• And remember…
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28. …we are designing for our future
selves!
David Sloan, 20 April 2012 28

29. Acknowledgments
• Sergio Sayago, Alan Newell, Peter Gregor, Paula
Forbes, Anna Dickinson, Vicki Hanson (photos;
inspiration, insight from ethnography with older web
users)
• The Dundee User Centre – the real experts!
• Prof Leela Damodaran and Wendy Olphert (SUS-IT
project )
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30. GRACIAS!
email: dsloan@computing.dundee.ac.uk
twitter: @sloandr
blogs: www.58sound.com --- blog.dundee.ac.uk/eaccessibility
work: www.dmag.org.uk --- www.computing.dundee.ac.uk
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