ABSTRACT
Cognitive Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785
Acceptance of Information Technologies
by Older Adults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785
Older Adults and the Acquisition
of Computer Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786
Aging and Computer Task Performance . . . . . . . . . . 786
Designing Computer Systems to
Accommodate Older Adults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787
Hardware Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787
Software Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788
Other Important Design Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . 789
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790
The expanding power of computers and the recent growth of information technologies such as the Internet have made it possible for large numbers of people to have direct access to an increasingly wide array of information sources and services. Network usage is exploding and new interfaces, search engines, and features are becoming available at an unprecedented rate. In 2003, about 61.8% of households in the United States owned a personal computer (PC) and approximately 54.7% of these households had access to the Internet (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2005; Fig. 39.1). In essence, use of technology has become an integral component of work, education, communication, and entertainment. Technology is also being increasingly used within the healthcare arena for service delivery, in-home monitoring, interactive communication (e.g., between patient and physician), transfer of health information and peer support. Use of automatic teller machines, interactive telephone-based menu systems, cellular telephones, and VCRs is also quite common. Furthermore, telephones, television, home security systems, and other communication devices are becoming more integrated with computer network resources providing faster and more powerful interactive services. In essence, in order to function independently and successfully interact with the environment, people of all ages need to interact with some form of technology.
