Businesses have become so caught up in catering to the millennials that many have forgotten about our senior citizens. As life expectancy has improved and fertility rates are on the decrease, it is important that products and services are geared towards our aging population.
So, if you want your web design to remain functional, you will have to find suitable ways to make it more suitable for older Internet users. By adjusting your website design, you can reach a segment of society that is growing by the day.
The key to consider is that as we grow older, our mind, body and senses change too. This can make it more challenging to navigate your way around a website. Here are practical ways in which you can adjust your design so that it is more age-friendly.
Designing for the aging body
One of the most frustrating things is to click on the wrong link. It has happened to the best of us. Now, as we grow older it becomes more challenging to control our bodies. This means that typing or using a mouse can become a real challenge if you are finding it more difficult to keep your hands steady or cannot move your fingers as you used to because of diseases such as arthritis.
So, when you are designing your website, be mindful of these challenges and increase the white space between links or call-to-action buttons. In fact, by adding enough white space your web design will make navigation much better for all your visitors – young and old.
Another good practice is to include voice to text functionality. This way your web design also becomes more suitable for visitors with disabilities.
Designing for the aging senses
It is no secret that as we grow older, our eyesight are not what it used to be. Therefore, tiny text and minuscule call-to-action buttons should be avoided. Older people also find it more challenging to perceive colour correctly.
The solution is to enable visitors to customise your website design. For example, you can allow visitors to change the size of the text. Also, opt for colour schemes that make use of contrasting colours. As a matter of fact, a contrasting colour scheme is a great tool for any designer as it can help to emphasise important call-to-action prompts.
Another sense that worsens with age is our hearing. So, if your web design has a video, be sure to use subtitles. It is actually a great practice because by including subtitles visitors can also enjoy your content while they are secretly browsing the web while at work.
Designing for the aging mind
Older people have a much harder time remembering things. So, it could be that they have added their items to their shopping basket only to forget to proceed to checkout. Obviously this is not good for any business.
For starters, make sure that it is easy to navigate your website. As claimed by the web design agency in Sydney, Magicdust, an intuitive user experience is an important element of great web design and when it comes to navigation the needs of your visitors should be your number one priority. Apart from helping older customers find their way around your website (and hopefully to the checkout page), younger visitors will love the streamlined experience that easy navigation offers.
Another practical tip is where possible not to split processes such as payment so that you are being directed from one page to the next. Instead, try to find a way so that all the information remains visible so that customers can easily refer to it again.
By making these simple changes to your website design, you are not disregarding the younger crowd. Actually, truth be told, many of these tips have nothing to do with adjusting your web design to an older target audience. Good web design will incorporate all these elements as it just makes websites more usable for everyone. One of the most common web design mistakes is to concentrate on the products or services that you are providing instead of your potential customers. As a matter of fact by making these changes your website is becoming more inclusive which means that your products or services will reach more people. Ultimately this is a true win-win situation for everyone – young and old.
