Towards characteristics of accessibility and usability issues for older people - a brazilian case study

Abstract

The constant evolution of the Web is a worldwide phenomenon that needs to deal quickly with the various segments of current society. Thus, Web content should be accessible to the different user profiles. In this century, the aging population has presented a high rate of demographic growth. Older people (aged 60+) have some of their capacities limited and may face barriers to interact with services and content available on the Web. Despite of legislation and recommendations concerning how to make Web content more accessible and usable, there are still many problems related to accessibility and usability to be solved, especially those related to recent technological advances of current Web resources. The purpose of this study was to investigate the main accessibility and usability issues on websites. The study involved a sample of 20 Brazilian older people. Results showed the most common issues found and participants manifested their main difficulties.