It often seems that technology companies, with their cornucopia of games, iPods and MP3 players, focus only on the young. But IBM, Microsoft, ScanSoft and others are increasingly turning their attention to middle-age and senior consumers, and creating products and software to help them cope with the effects of aging.
Using technology previously developed for people with disabilities, they are helping computer users overcome limitations posed by hearing loss, arthritis and failing eyesight.
Baby Boomers–the 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964–are among the heaviest users of computers and the Internet. According to Susannah Fox, research director for the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Washington, D.C., Baby Boomers aren’t very different from younger computer users.
“The really interesting thing about the 50- to 64-year-olds,” she said, “is that they are a lot more like the Generation X group [those in their 30s] than like the seniors.” According to Pew’s research, published in March, 76 percent of people age 50 to 58 use a computer; 86 percent of those in their 30s do so.
Although there are fewer seniors than Boomers, the number of seniors (those older than 65) who use computers and the Internet has grown dramatically in the last few years. According to the Pew research, seniors have been the fastest-growing group to go online in the last four years. In 2000, only 15 percent of seniors went online. By 2004, it was 22 percent–a 47 percent increase.
Multiple uses
Most of the technology employed to help aging users is not new. Referred to as “accessibility technology,” it was developed for those with disabilities such as blindness, deafness and quadriplegia. But when Microsoft recently explored the possibility of expanding its market for these products, “we found … that 57 percent of our customers … would benefit from using accessibility features,” said Madelyn Bryant McIntire, director of Microsoft’s Accessibility Technology Group.
Walter Bender, executive director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, which studies media in the computer age, said that all users can benefit from accessibility technology.
“Most of the things you end up doing for the disabled are good ideas for everybody,” he said. Bender, who recently worked with the AARP to develop guidelines for designing Web sites for older users, said “a lot of the things that trip up seniors,” such as double-clicking, “trip everybody else up as well.”
Accessibility features come in many forms. Some are built into a computer’s operating system; others are separate software packages that can be downloaded from Web sites or purchased at electronics stores; and still others are types of computer hardware, such as keyboards.
Here are some examples:
– Home Page Reader is software that IBM originally created for the visually impaired. It converts text into speech and can be downloaded from the IBM Web site, www.ibm.com/able.
– ScanSoft makes Dragon Naturally Speaking, voice recognition software that converts speech into text. It can be used by those who have trouble typing because of arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome or other dexterity problems. Robert Weideman, ScanSoft’s senior vice president of marketing and product strategy, claims the software is up to 99 percent accurate (compared with about an 80 percent accuracy rate for keyboard typing).
– Apple’s Mac OS X operating system and Microsoft’s Windows (98 or XP) have built-in accessibility features. Both systems have several options, including software that lets users magnify text or have it read aloud. The Mac also allows users to use the numeric keypad instead of a mouse (which can be hard on arthritic hands) to move the cursor.
– DataHand Systems has developed hardware such as its ergonomic keyboard, which is designed to take the pressure off wrists and requires less finger force to strike keys.
Such developments have a ready audience. According to the AARP, 36 million Americans older than 50 go online regularly. They use the Internet to do their banking, make travel arrangements, shop and research family histories, among other things.
Gil Reich, 72, of Barrington is a frequent Web surfer.
“I do all my purchasing for my wife and myself. … I make all my travel arrangements,” he said.
Reich also uses his computer to keep in touch with his grandchildren. “Almost all of my grandkids … have their own computers, so we have a great time communicating,” he said.
Rebecca Kartalia, 88, also of Barrington, said she is glad her five children introduced her to computers. Since 1987, when they bought Kartalia and her husband, Mitch, their first computer, she has written two books about her family’s history using the word processor and loves to explore the Internet.
“I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “I’m having a lot of fun.”
Easier navigation
With so many older Americans going online, companies and non-profits are making their Web sites easier for middle-age and senior users to navigate.
Older users tend to be more cautious than younger ones, said Tom Tullis, senior vice president of human interface design at Fidelity Investments, who studies usability for the company’s Web sites.To compensate, Fidelity uses more action words for links on its sites. Instead of labeling a link “accounts,” for example, the link mightbe labeled “go to accounts.”
Fidelity also tried using a haptic mouse, which vibrates when a user moves the cursor over a link.
“We found that [it] did help significantly, especially older adults who had less experience in using the Web,” said Tullis. A haptic mouse can be purchased online or at many technology stores.The National Institute on Aging recently launched a health Web site for seniors with features that accommodate those with poor vision or hearing deficits. The site, www.nihseniorhealth.gov, a collaborative effort of the institute and the National Library of Medicine, was launched last October.
According to Stephanie Dailey, the institute’seducation research specialist, the site is the “world’s first talking Web site.” Although several sites have text-to-voice software that allows the printed word to be read aloud, the institute’s site does this automatically. It “doesn’t require visitors to do an extra plug-in,” said Dailey. A larger-size print and greater color contrast also make it easier for those who choose to read the text.
Although accessibility technology is available to anyone with a computer and a Windows or Mac OS X operating system, many older Americans are either unaware of the technology or reluctant to use it. Even if they know about it, said Microsoft’s McIntire, most Baby Boomers “don’t identify themselves as having an impairment” when they start to experience vision or hearing loss, so they may be less likely to seek it out.
Hesitant to ask for help
When Phillip Swartz, 53, of Chicago began having difficulty reading a few years ago, he did not try the software available on his computer’s operating system or go to his electronics store to find software that might help him. Instead, like many middle-aged computer users, he purchased “computer glasses,” a generic term for glasses that magnify small type. He said he is happy with these and is unlikely to search for accessibility features on his computer.
Fox, from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, calls the Baby Boomers the “silver tsunami.” Although they are approaching accessibility technology gradually, she thinks they will embrace it as they age because they are wedded to their computers and the Internet.
McIntire at Microsoft said she thinks this trend will help change perceptions.
Accessibility technology “will actually improve the way we think about disability,” she said. “Hopefully … the stigma around [it] will be removed, because it will be seen as just a natural result of a long life.”
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Sources abound for accessibility technology
The following organizations and companies can help you find out more about accessibility technology.
– AARP (888-687-2277) has a section on its Web site called Older, Wiser, Wired. The site alsoreviews new computer software and hardware. Visit www.aarp.org/olderwiserwired.
– Microsoft has a section on its Web site where you can find out more about accessibility technology, as well as what is available on the company’s operating systems and Office software. Visit www.microsoft.com/enable/aging.
– Apple Computer has a number of accessibility products. Visit www.apple.com/accessibility or call 800-692-7753. The site also lists other manufacturers of products that help seniors and people with disabilities.
– IBM’s Web site has information about accessibility and some product downloads. Visit www.ibm.com/able or call 800-426-4968.
– ScanSoft Inc. makes voice-recognition software. Visit www.scansoft.com or call 978-977-2000.
– DataHand Systems Inc. makes an ergonomic keyboard to reduce pain and typing fatigue. Visit www.datahand.com or call 800-875-7171.
– Ai Squared Inc. offers a screen-magnification program called ZoomText. Visit www.aisquared.com or call 800-859-0270.
– To learn more about research on aging Americans and the Internet, visit the Pew Internet and American Life Project Web site, www.pewinternet.org, or call 202-296-0019.
