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• Web Accessibility for Older Adults: Effects of Line Spacing and Text Justification on Reading Web Pages

  Helen Petrie, Sorachai Kamollimsakul, Christopher Power · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This poster paper empirically tests two common web accessibility recommendations for older adults: increased line spacing and left-only text justification. The authors note that at least 10 sets of guidelines for making websites accessible to older people exist in English alone,…

  older adults · web accessibility · typography · line spacing · text justification

• Wheelchair-Based Game Design for Older Adults

  Kathrin M. Gerling, Regan L. Mandryk, Michael R. Kalyn · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper addresses the design of motion-based video games that are accessible to institutionalized older adults using wheelchairs. More than half of Canadians over 65 in residential care use wheelchairs, and wheelchair use severely limits opportunities for physical activity…

  game accessibility · wheelchair · older adults · motion-based games · Kinect

• Usability, Demography, and Directions for W4A

  Alan F. Newell · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This provocative keynote paper from Alan Newell at the University of Dundee challenges the web accessibility community to broaden its focus beyond technical compliance for people with sensory and motor disabilities to address the much larger population of digitally excluded…

  aging · digital divide · usability · web accessibility · digital inclusion

• Understanding Age and Technology Experience Differences in Use of Prior Knowledge for Everyday Technology Interactions

  Marita A. O'Brien, Wendy A. Rogers, Arthur D. Fisk · 2012 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This study investigates how people of different ages and technology experience levels draw upon prior knowledge when using everyday technologies. The researchers conducted a 10-day diary study with 30 participants divided into three groups: younger adults (ages 18-28),…

  older adults · prior knowledge · technology experience · aging · human factors

• How Older Adults Learn to Use Mobile Devices: Survey and Field Investigations

  Rock Leung, Charlotte Tang, Shathel Haddad, Joanna McGrenere, Peter Graf, Vilia Ingriany · 2012 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research investigates how older adults (65+) learn to use mobile devices, combining a survey study of 131 respondents across three age groups (20-49, 50-64, 65+) with an in-depth field study of six older adults learning to use an Android smartphone. The survey examined 11…

  older adults · aging · mobile devices · learning · technology adoption

• Elderly Text-Entry Performance on Touchscreens

  Hugo Nicolau, Joaquim Jorge · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '12)

  This paper presents an empirical study of how elderly users perform text-entry tasks on touchscreen devices, examining both mobile phones and tablets. Fifteen participants aged 67 to 89 (mean 79) were asked to copy sentences on an HTC Desire smartphone and an ASUS Transformer…

  touchscreen accessibility · text entry · aging · motor accessibility · tremor

• Understanding the Role of Age and Fluid Intelligence in Information Search

  Shari Trewin, John T. Richards, Vicki L. Hanson, David Sloan, Bonnie E. John, Cal Swart, John C. Thomas · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This study investigates whether age or fluid intelligence is the more important factor driving differences in how people search for information in hierarchical web interfaces. The researchers recruited three groups: 14 younger adults with high fluid intelligence (YH, mean age…

  cognitive accessibility · aging · fluid intelligence · eye tracking · information search

• Considerations for Technology that Support Physical Activity by Older Adults

  Chloe Fan, Jodi Forlizzi, Anind Dey · 2012 · Proceedings of the 14th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2012)

  This paper investigates how technology can help older adults overcome barriers to physical activity through a needs-based, qualitative research approach. Rather than starting from technology capabilities, the researchers interviewed 12 physically active older adults (aged 61-90)…

  aging · older adults · physical activity · technology intervention · participatory design

• Improving the Accessibility of Dynamic Web Content for Older Users

  Darren Lunn, Simon Harper · 2011 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the SCWeb2 (Senior Citizens on the Web 2.0) Assistant Tool, a browser extension designed to help older users understand and interact with dynamic Web 2.0 content. The authors build on their previous research showing that older users, unlike younger ones, have…

  aging · dynamic content · web accessibility · cognitive accessibility · AJAX

• AJAX Time Machine

  Andy Brown, Simon Harper · 2011 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper proposes the AJAX Time Machine, a Google Chrome browser extension that records states of dynamically updating web page regions and allows users to step backwards and forwards through those states at their own pace. The authors argue that dynamic AJAX content —…

  AJAX · dynamic content · cognitive accessibility · aging · screen readers

• Reading in Multimodal Environments: Assessing Legibility and Accessibility of Typography for Television

  Penelope Allen, Judith Garman, Ian Calvert, Jane Murison · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper from BBC Research & Development explores the legibility and accessibility of typography on television, an area that had received surprisingly little research attention despite the increasing complexity of text-based content on TV. Modern television…

  typography · readability · multimedia accessibility · low vision · cognitive accessibility

• How Voice Augmentation Supports Elderly Web Users

  Daisuke Sato, Masatomo Kobayashi, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa, Jiro Tanaka · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper from IBM Research Tokyo investigates how voice-based augmentation, originally developed for blind screen reader users, can be adapted to support older adults using web applications. The research addresses two key barriers that prevent elderly users from engaging with…

  aging · web accessibility · voice interface · cognitive accessibility · auditory interface

• Developing Accessible TV Applications

  José Coelho, Carlos Duarte, Pradipta Biswas, Patrick Langdon · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper describes the GUIDE (Gentle User Interfaces for Elderly People) framework for developing accessible TV applications through multimodal interaction, user interface adaptation, and impairment simulation. The research combines a survey of 46 elderly participants (ages…

  aging · multimedia accessibility · multimodal interaction · adaptive systems · personalization

• Leveraging Large Data Sets for User Requirements Analysis

  Maria K. Wolters, Vicki L. Hanson, Johanna D. Moore · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2011)

  This paper demonstrates a novel methodology for using large-scale demographic surveys to inform the design of accessible technology. Rather than conducting specialized usability studies with small samples, the authors repurpose the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) — a…

  inclusive design · aging · spoken dialogue systems · telecare · user requirements

• The potential of adaptive interfaces as an accessibility aid for older web users

  David Sloan, Matthew Tylee Atkinson, Colin Machin, Yunqiu Li · 2010 · Proceedings of the 2010 International Cross Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper examines the challenge of supporting web accessibility for older people whose capabilities fluctuate gradually over time due to age-related decline in vision, hearing, dexterity, and cognition. The authors argue that current accessibility solutions — accessible…

  aging · adaptive interfaces · assistive technology · older users · personalization

• Investigating Grid-Based Navigation: The Impact of Physical Disability

  Shaojian Zhu, Jinjuan Feng, Andrew Sears · 2010 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper investigates enhancements to grid-based navigation, a speech-controlled cursor technique designed for people who cannot use traditional keyboard and mouse input due to upper-body motor disabilities. Grid-based navigation works by recursively dividing the screen into…

  motor disabilities · speech recognition · cursor control · target selection · alternative input

• Multi-Layered Interfaces to Improve Older Adults' Initial Learnability of Mobile Applications

  Rock Leung, Leah Findlater, Joanna McGrenere, Peter Graf, Justine Yang · 2010 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper investigates whether multi-layered (ML) interfaces can improve the learnability of mobile applications for older adults. ML interfaces present novice users with a simplified, reduced-functionality layer containing only basic features, allowing them to progress to a…

  aging · older adults · mobile accessibility · learnability · interface design

• Helping Older Adults Locate 'Lost' Cursors Using FieldMouse

  Nic Hollinworth · 2010 · Proceedings of the 12th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2010)

  This short paper describes FieldMouse, a modified standard optical mouse augmented with a touch sensor (Quantum QT110) embedded in its top surface to detect when a user grasps the mouse after releasing it. The motivation addresses a common problem among older adult computer…

  aging · mouse cursor · pointing devices · input devices · assistive technology

• About the relevance of accessibility barriers in the everyday interactions of older people with the web

  Sergio Sayago, Josep Blat · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper reports findings from a remarkable 3-year ethnographic study (2005-2008) of 388 older people (aged 65-80) using web and computer technologies in their daily lives at the Àgora adult centre in Barcelona. Unlike most accessibility research that relies on lab-based…

  aging · ethnography · web accessibility · cognitive accessibility · mouse interaction

• Age and Web Access: The Next Generation

  Vicki L. Hanson · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper challenges the common assumption that technology difficulties experienced by older adults are a fixed characteristic of aging that will naturally disappear as tech-savvy younger generations grow old. Hanson argues that the relationship between age and web access is…

  aging · older adults · digital divide · cognitive accessibility · user experience

• A Survey of Technology Accessibility Problems Faced by Older Users in China

  Dengfeng Yao, Yunfeng Qiu, Zaixin Du, Jianqing Ma, Harry Huang · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents the broadest survey of web accessibility for older users conducted in China at the time, with 180 valid responses from participants across all 25 Chinese provinces. The web-based questionnaire was supplemented with in-person discussions at meetings with older…

  aging · older adults · digital divide · global accessibility · survey research

• Guideline Aggregation: Web Accessibility Evaluation for Older Users

  Giorgio Brajnik, Yeliz Yesilada, Simon Harper · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper proposes using set theory to create an aggregated accessibility evaluation category for older users by combining barrier types identified for motor impaired and low vision users within the Barrier Walkthrough (BW) method. Traditional validation approaches treat…

  older users · accessibility evaluation · barrier walkthrough · low vision · motor impairment

• User tests demonstration: real experiences in measuring web accessibility needs for people with disabilities and the elderly

  Jesus Hernandez Galán, J. Ángel Martinez Usero, M. Jesús Varela Méndez · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibililty (W4A)

  This workshop paper from the ONCE Foundation, CIDAT, and Technosite in Spain describes a practical demonstration of user testing with people with disabilities and elderly participants as part of web accessibility evaluation. Set within the European policy context of the 2005…

  user testing · accessibility evaluation · aging · European accessibility policy · UWEM

• Augmenting social media accessibility

  Roberto Borrino, Marco Furini, Marco Roccetti · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibililty (W4A)

  This paper presents SOMFA (SOcial Media For All), an architecture that transforms web-based social media content into multimodal audio/video presentations suitable for television sets. The system addresses the growing social divide created by social media: while technologically…

  social media · digital divide · aging · content adaptation · text-to-speech

• Evaluation of techniques defined in WCAG 2.0 with older people

  Sergio Sayago, Laura Camacho, Josep Blat · 2009 · Proceedings of the 2009 International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibililty (W4A)

  This paper evaluates two specific WCAG 2.0 techniques — keyboard-based navigation (Guideline 2.1) and design of link purpose (Guideline 2.4) — with older people aged 65 to 80 in two real-world design projects for old-age pensioner associations in Barcelona, Spain. The study…

  aging · WCAG compliance · keyboard accessibility · link design · user testing