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New Checklist Shows How To Make Web Sites Senior Friendly

  

For Immediate Release:
February 22, 2001

Contact: Claudia Feldman, NIA
(301) 496-1752

Kathleen G. Cravedi, NLM
(301) 496-6308

Plain text, plain type, and plain terms are plainly effective ways to broaden the reach of a Web site to an older audience. Growing numbers of people 60 and older are computer users and information seekers on the World Wide Web, according to the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine. These two components of the National Institutes of Health are providing a free booklet, “Making Your Web Site Senior Friendly: A Checklist,” to help web designers tailor all Web sites—old and new—for use by older people.

The Checklist is based on results of scholarly research showing that age is no hindrance to computer or Internet use. While normal, gradual, age-associated declines in vision and cognitive abilities may be impediments to the use of electronic technology, the Checklist ticks off ways to design readable text and navigational features that can shape up a Web site for older people. It also covers suggestions for style and for incorporating popular features like photos, videos, and audio. It wraps up with an extensive list of research references and suggested reading to address in-depth web design issues.

“By implementing this Checklist , web designers can help open the Internet to great numbers of people over 60 who want to know more about their health and aging,” says NIA director, Dr. Richard J. Hodes.

“We have found that people age 60 and over now constitute the fastest growing group of computer users,” notes NLM director, Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg.

Single copies of “Making Your Web Site Senior Friendly: A Checklist,” are available on the Web at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/checklist.pdf or toll-free at 1-800-222-2225.

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