Web accessibility for an ageing population

OZeWAI Conference 30 November 2011

Andrew ArchAssistant Director, Web Policy – Accessibility

1

Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO)

Ageing in Australia

Intergenerational Review 2010 (Treasury)

Acknowledges:• Population is ageing• Increased spending required on health, age-

pensions, aged-care• Age-care policies need to enable people to

stay in the community as long as possiblehttp://www.treasury.gov.au/igr/

Extended working career

Age Commissioner:• “A recent Deloittes report on the looming national skills

shortage asked the question that should be on the lips of most businesses: Where is your next employee coming from?” Commissioner Ryan said. “Their answer was clear – your next employee is retired or about to retire.”

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/about/media/news/2011/125_11.html

Ageing in Europe

EC funded projects around ICT for ageing well• Smart homes• Smart appliances• E-health• Monitoring• Independent living

DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES

Draws on http://www.w3.org/WAI/presentations/ageing/

Developed with material from W3C Web () /

Global demographic changes

Year 65+ years

80+ years

2010 7.6% 1.5%

2020 9.3% 1.9%

2030 11.7% 2.3%

2040 14.2% 3.3%

2050 16.2% 4.3%

United Nations global demographic forecast

Source: UN World Population Prospects

0

10

20

2010 2020 2030 2040 2050

Year

Perc

ent

80+ years 65+ years

European situation

Demographic forecast for the EU

Source: EuroStat

Year 65+ years

80+ years

2010 17% 5%

2020 20% 6%

2030 24% 7%

2040 27% 8%

2050 29% 12%

0

10

20

30

2010 2020 2030 2040 2050

Year

Per

cent

80+ years 65+ years

Japanese situation

Demographic forecast for Japan

Source: Japanese Statistics Bureau

Year 65+ years

2010 23%

2020 29%

2030 32%

2040 37%

2050 40%

Australia’s situation

Demographic forecast for Australia

Source: ABS Population Projections

Year 65+ years

80+ years

2010 14% 1.8%

2020 16% 2.1%

2030 19% 2.4%

2040 21% 3.5%

2050 22% 4.4%

CHANGING ABILITIES

Ageing and hearing loss

Impact:•Audio can be difficult to discern •Higher pitch sounds can be missed

Prevalence: •47% of people 61 to 80 years •93% of people 81+ years

Ageing and vision decline

Impact: •Decreasing ability to focus on near tasks •Changing colour perception and sensitivity •Decreasing contrast sensitivity

Prevalence:(significant vision loss) •16% of people 65 - 74 years •19% of people 75 – 84 years •46% of people 85+ years

Ageing and physical decline

Impact:(Motor skill decline can result from many conditions including arthritis and Parkinson's Disease)

• Difficulty using mouse or keyboard

• Difficult to click small areas

• Strain from non-ergonomic tasks

Prevalence:(Conditions commonly reported)

• Arthritis• At least 50% of people over

65 affected

• Essential tremor• Affects up to 20% of people

over 65

• Parkinson's Disease• Approximately 4% of people

over 85 affected

Ageing and cognitive decline

Impact: Navigation, comprehension, and task completion can be affected by:

• Short term memory problems

• Difficulty with concentration

• Distraction from movement or irrelevant material

• Difficulty coping with information overload

Prevalence: (Conditions commonly reported)

• Dementia: • 1.4% of people 65-69 yrs • 24% of people 85+ yrs 

• Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is more common:

• Around 20% of people over 70 years are estimated to experience MCI

OLDER PEOPLE ONLINE

Unprecedented opportunities for:

• Social interaction and communication • Access to information• Access to eCommerce• Access to government services and civic

participation • Training and learning opportunities • Employment, research, and access to

workplace applications

“Older Australians and the Internet”

Participants awareness of and interest in the internethttp://apo.org.au/research/older-australians-and-internet

“Older Australians and the Internet”

Barriers identified:• Don’t know how to use it• Confused by the technology• Concern about security and viruses• Don’t know what it does• Rely on friends & family

Numbers online (2006)

ACCESSIBILTY FOR OLDER PEOPLE

Observations from the literature

• Many studies seemed unaware of the W3C/WAI work• Information overload was commonly identified • Less technical, more usability, requirements

predominated• Accessibility options were not appreciated by users • Adaptive strategies were seldom considered • Assistive technology was not discussed • Hearing as an impairment was ignored

Draws on http://www.w3.org/WAI/presentations/ageing

Roger Hudson’s survey (2010)

Common problems• “Silly little picture about nothing”• “Fancy stuff that keeps moving”• “Finding what I’m after”• “Too many navigation choices”

Text size or colour• Text size sometimes a problem for 48%• Colour mentioned by 23%

http://kwz.me/Y3 /

ROLE OF WAI GUIDELINES

Components of web accessibility

Accessible web content

Requirements include:• Readable and understandable text • Identifiable and understandable links • Clear and identifiable headings • Good orientation and navigation

WCAG 2.0 addresses these

Usability improvements

Usability improvements especially help older people and people with disabilities:

• Page layout and design - provide consistency and avoid overload

• Text presentation - use left justification, increase line spacing & margins, avoid italics and underlining

• Forms - avoid complexity and provide clear guidance • Menus and links - provide predictability and

consistency

WCAG 2.0 also addresses these

WAI-AGE OUTCOMES

WAI-AGE goals

• Raising awareness of Web accessibility for older people

• Better explaining the applicability of the WAI guidelines for older people

• Avoiding potential fragmentation through reinvention of requirements

• Encouraging participation of older people in W3C/WAI standardization

WAI-AGE resources

Revision of existing WAI resources, including:

• Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization

• Before and After Demonstration (BAD) website

• Involving Users in Web Projects for Better, Easier Accessibility

• Developing Web Accessibility Presentations and Training 

WAI-AGE resources

New WAI resources:• Better Web Browsing - Tips to customize your com

puter• Contacting Organizations about Inaccessible Web

sites• Developing Websites for Older People• How to Make Presentations Accessible to All

Websites for Older People:How WCAG 2.0 Applies

Perceivable• Text size• Text style and text layout• Color and contrast• Multimedia• Text-to-speech (speech synthesis)• CAPTCHA

Operable• Links• Navigation and location• Mouse use• Keyboard use and tabbing• Distractions• Sufficient time

Understandable• Page organization• Understandable language• Consistent navigation and labeling• Pop-ups and new-windows• Page refresh and updates• Instructions and input assistance• Error prevention and recovery for forms

Robust• Older equipment/software

http://www.w3.org/WAI/older-users/developing

AUSTRALIAN ACTIVITIES

National Seniors Australia report

Older people will be online for :• e-Health• Social networking• Adult learning• Shopping & banking

http://www.productiveageing.com.au/site/grants_arc.php

Initiatives

Australia• Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy• National Broadband Network• Digital Communities

UK• Silver Surfers Day/week• Race Online 2012

NTS timeframes

• Implementation WCAG 2.0 by Australian Governments in accordance with agreed work plan• Level A by December 2012• Level AA by December 2014

• Bottom line - websites that are not accessible are not fit for purpose

Discussion

Contact details• Andrew.Arch@finance.gov.au• WCAG2@finance.gov.au • 02 6215 1618