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Generation UX – How to make websites age-friendly

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Re: Generation UX – How to make websites age-friendly

#2
"Congratulations, here's your first set of glasses" - the present I got when I turned 50.

While the site focuses on seniors, a lot of the suggestions are good ones in any case - fonts larger than legalese and with good contrast will make your page more easily approachable and less likely to lose viewers who get frustrated because they can't read what you're trying to say.

Re: Generation UX – How to make websites age-friendly

#3
post #2

"Congratulations, here's your first set of glasses" - the present I got when I turned 50. While the site focuses on seniors, a lot of the suggestions are good ones in any case - fonts larger than legalese and with good contrast will make your page more easily approachable and less likely to lose viewers who get frustrated because they can't read what you're trying to say.

larger click targets also help with users on touch devices. Apple recommends a minimum of 44x44px but around 30-35 upwards is usually fine.

Re: Generation UX – How to make websites age-friendly

#4
post #2

"Congratulations, here's your first set of glasses" - the present I got when I turned 50. While the site focuses on seniors, a lot of the suggestions are good ones in any case - fonts larger than legalese and with good contrast will make your page more easily approachable and less likely to lose viewers who get frustrated because they can't read what you're trying to say.

There's a limit, though. I end up browsing most modern websites at ~60% zoom, because the text is so huge I find it distracting. Luckily the browser zoom feature is pretty great these days, so users can view at any size they like.

Re: Generation UX – How to make websites age-friendly

#5
post #4
post #2

"Congratulations, here's your first set of glasses" - the present I got when I turned 50. While the site focuses on seniors, a lot of the suggestions are good ones in any case - fonts larger than legalese and with good contrast will make your page more easily approachable and less likely to lose viewers who get frustrated because they can't read what you're trying to say.

There's a limit, though. I end up browsing most modern websites at ~60% zoom, because the text is so huge I find it distracting. Luckily the browser zoom feature is pretty great these days, so users can view at any size they like.

There's a limit, though. I end up browsing most modern websites at ~120% zoom when I'm tired, because it's more comfortable. Lay back in chair, still read comfortably. There's so much wasted whitespace it usually doesn't even break the layout.

I'm 29 and my eyesight with glasses is ok. Been wearing 'em for 22 years.

But really the worst offenders are gray text on lighter gray background websites. Whyyyy designers why?

Re: Generation UX – How to make websites age-friendly

#6
The UX world has gone so far backwards, regardless of age, in the last five years it's hard to know where to begin: flat design, washed out colors, thin fonts, buttons that look like badges that look like input boxes that look like borders, modals that take over the entire screen with only a faint x in the upper right corner to indicate what is going on, input fields with internal labels that disappear as soon as anything is entered, and on and on.

Just going back to bootstrap 2, for all its problems, would be a step forward at this point.

Re: Generation UX – How to make websites age-friendly

#8
Noted is the distraction from automatically changing carousels. I've found this a major area of concern -- not just carousels but any autoplay content, automatic slides, and text marquees. And beyond distraction, these elements assume a specific pace of reading and require the user to build UI understanding to get back to interesting content they glimpsed in passing. If the content is compelling enough to display, it's compelling enough to present well.

Re: Generation UX – How to make websites age-friendly

#9
post #5
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a limit, though. I end up browsing most modern websites at ~60% zoom, because the text is so huge I find it distracting. Luckily the browser zoom feature is pretty great these days, so users can view at any size they like.

There's a limit, though. I end up browsing most modern websites at ~120% zoom when I'm tired, because it's more comfortable. Lay back in chair, still read comfortably. There's so much wasted whitespace it usually doesn't even break the layout. I'm 29 and my eyesight with glasses is ok. Been wearing 'em for 22 years. But really the worst offenders are gray text on lighter gray background websites. Whyyyy designers why…

> Whyyyy designers why?

Because A E S T H E T I C

I've yet to see any designer articulate a reasonable defense of this shit.

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