Well thought out article, and very relevant. I volunteer at a seniors’ village and it’s often the site security that gets in the way — think password changes etc. where you’ve to put in codes or even have a mobile so they can send it to you (some people don’t). Constant rule changers (I’m thinking especially of social media sites like FB) make life difficult too.

There’s also the physical aspect — hard to spot power buttons, small font keyboards and difficult to control mice. Yes, you can buy special ones, but they cost way more than normal and are hard to get.

If there was an option to choose one site style or another (e.g. fancy or plain) it would make life a lot easier for many seniors. They often go online for a particular purpose (email, banking) and don’t need all the frills. They just find them confusing.

Thanks for the article — I hope it seeds a few ideas for designers out there.