Commonly thought of as technology for fast moving young people, researchers at the University of Dundee are telling businesses that older people are the internet's future.
A team of researchers in the Division of Applied Computing are running workshops next month for internet designers and e- businesses to give them a heads up on how to attract older customers and how to design sites for their easy use.
Professor Newell, the head of the UTOPIA project - usable technology for older people: inclusive and appropriate - hopes that Dundee businesses can be made more aware of the importance of including older people in their marketing and development plans. "Older people can feel very excluded from new technologies like e-commerce web sites and that shouldn't be acceptable. Developers have a social and legal obligation to design well for older people. By excluding this group they miss out on a huge potential market. We want to bring this to their attention and share our expertise in designing software and websites that everyone can use."
While older people have been slower to take to the internet than other groups, computer groups for the over 50s and various charity initiatives means that older people are increasingly using computers and the internet. Age Concern recently released statistics on older people and internet use. While 55% of the population as a whole use the internet, 40% of people 55-64 and only12% of people over 65 are internet users. 34% of these older users manage their bank accounts online, 67% use it to research flights and holidays.
However, these are not the only ways that older people can use the internet, Maime Bruce-Gardyne of the Airlie Cybercafe, a local over-50s computer group says: "It is wrong to suggest that older people are less interested in technology than younger people. At the Airlie Cybercafe we have bought a scanner and have had a lot of fun making personalised stationery with it. Some members of the Cybercafe also do their grocery shopping from Tesco online." Older people will attend the workshops to discuss the opportunities and problems they encounter shopping online.
Speakers at the UTOPIA workshop on Monday 11 November will include the usability expert Chris Rourke from User Vision, the Scottish-based web design company which developed Intelligent Finance's hugely successful website; Mrs Isobel Lindsay, speaking as an older user of computers; David Sloan from the Digital Media Access Group; and Lesley Paterson from Thorntons Solicitors who will talk on the legal issues surrounding accessible website design.
The workshops will take place in the Baxter conference suite on the 1st floor of the Tower Building at the Univesity of Dundee between 2 and 5pm. Anyone who would like more information or to attend the workshops should email info-utopia@computing.dundee.ac.uk, register online at http://www.computing.dundee.ac.uk/projects/UTOPIA/workshops.asp or telephone Dr Anna Dickinson on 01382 344787.
Led by Dundee University, The UTOPIA project is a consortium of the Universities of Glasgow, Abertay, Dundee and Napier. The project plans to foster research links between mainstream researchers and specialists who develop IT for the support older and disabled people with the aim of developing of novel Human Computer Interaction, Software engineering and User Centred Design methodologies appropriate to older people.
The UTOPIA project will come under the auspices of The Queen Mother Research Centre to be established within the Division of Applied Computing at the University of Dundee. This specialist centre will be devoted to developing and harnessing new technology for the benefit of those with difficulties with communication, mobility, memory and other challenges associates with ageing.
Contact: Anna Dickinson, the UTOPIA Project, Applied Computing, University of Dundee, DD1 4HN, tel. 01382 344787, email adickinson@computing.dundee.ac.uk
By Jenny Marra, Press Officer 01382 344910 j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk