MichaelSullivan
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Feb 2, 2010, 11:05 AM
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Creating a More Seniors-Friendly Website
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By Michael P. Sullivan
50-Plus Communications Consulting: www.graymoney.biz
Last month I covered general rules about communicating effectively with your senior prospects and residents on your website. This month I will deal with more specific information.
Our ability to perform some mental operations tends to decline with age. It can create difficulties when we perform several tasks at the same time – remembering new information, doing complex tasks and comprehending text. Your website presentation needs to overcome these issues if you want to present your facility in the best possible manner.
Your web creators need to understand basics, even though most are 30 to 40 years younger than the older adults they are attempting to communicate with. We are amazed at the forehead-smacking “aha” moments in our training programs when younger web designers comprehend and chart a new course to help site visitors understand better.
Here are specifics:
Simplicity: The organization of your website should be simple and straightforward. Use specific step-by-step navigation procedures whenever possible to ensure that people understand what information follows next. Label your links carefully and make them easy to understand and use.
Use a standard page design and familiar symbols and icons throughout. Use images that are relevant to the message.
Body text: Use upper and lowercase letters. A good approach is to use capital letters and italics in headlines only. Reserve the technique of underlining text for links only.
Write the text copy in simple language. Present your retirement home information in a clear and familiar way to reduce the number of inferences that must be made.
We suggest using positive statements in writing copy. Even better with copy, use the active, not the passive, tense.
Organize the copy in a standard format which is more familiar to older adults who tend to be passionate readers of print media by nature. Break lengthy documents into short sections. Using shorter segments also reduces download time on older computers.
Double space all body text. Gerontologists tell us that white space between elements clearly helps older adults’ comprehension. For layout style that is optimal for older adults, we recommend using a flush left margin with a ragged right (uneven) copy format.
Colors: Avoid yellow, blue and green in close proximity. These colors used side by side are difficult for some older adults to discriminate one element from another. One issue is that with the aging eyeball there tends to be a yellowing in the lens of the eye that leads to changes in color perception.
Use dark type or graphics against a lighter background, or white lettering on a black or dark-colored background. Contrast is very helpful to the aging eyeball. Avoid backgrounds that have patterns which makes it much harder to read easily.
Cooler colors at the end of the spectrum, such as blues, greens, and violets, can cause distortion for an older adult.
Navigational Tools: Use the same set of navigation buttons in the same place on each page for the user to move from one web page site to another. It is best to use single mouse clicks to access information. Use pull-down menus sparingly.
As far as style and size of icons and buttons, incorporate text with the icon if possible, and use large buttons that do not require precise mouse movements for activation.
Michael P. Sullivan, President, 50-Plus Communications Consulting, Charlotte, North Carolina, (704) 554-7863. Mike consults and trains staff at retirement facilities, home care living firms, financial services and health care organizations. His book, “101 Easy Ways to Increase Business with Boomerplus Clients” is available on his website, www.graymoney.biz. Contact him at mps50plus@aol.com.
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(This post was edited by MichaelSullivan on Feb 2, 2010, 12:12 PM)
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