Website Design Southampton

The first rule of website design for older people is to be clear about exactly what age range you are considering. There may be a vast difference – in terms of interests and ability - between those who are middle aged (40-59), those who are older (60-75), and the elderly (75+). The key for all groups is not to be patronising and to acknowledge that many older people are extremely knowledgable and competent about technology. They can also be a highly informed and sceptical audience.

Physical aspects of web design for older people may include those that address diminishing sight and hearing. A good website design will probably have a white or light background, good contrast between text and background, clear good-sized images, and the option to change the text size. If you are designing a site that needs to appeal to different age groups or generations you may need to adopt a multiple website strategy, as different ages do tend to respond differently to various design aspects such as music, animation and colour.

Overall, for older people your website design should focus on looking professional. Make sure it reflects the image of the organisation it represents. Focus on message and content rather than aspects that entertain and impress but have little real substance. Make sure you have something valuable to offer. Avoid animation or distracting sounds, pop ups and unnecessary graphics or visuals. Think of the audience and how they will react – this is not a showcase for how clever the designer is.

Adopt an attractive but fairly conventional design, logical organisation of the site and clear navigation. Incorporate a clear menu on every page, with links back to the home page. Allow people to read at their own pace – avoid automatic scrolling and items that take a long time to load. The older audience tends to be highly literate so use proper English, avoid jargon and abbreviations, and check spelling and grammar.

Your aim should be to create a simple, neat site that is easy and pleasant to use. Make sure that the key information is immediately accessible and that there is not too much text on the page. Avoid long lines of text, and allow reasonable space between lines and paragraphs. Use a simple, clear font of a reasonable size and avoid running text over background graphics. Increasingly many sites use video – if you’re planning to do so, give clear instructions about how to access it and a text alternative.

Once you have designed the site, test it out with some older people – of various ages and levels of internet ability – to get their responses and feedback. Make any changes as necessary. Once the site goes live, regularly check for broken links and continue to seek user feedback on improvements.


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