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sgow, Department of Computer Science,Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UKL. Tiwari
ICCAVE, University of Abertay Dundee, Dundee,
DD1 1HG, UKUniv Access Inf Soc (2004) 3: 131–140
DOI 10.1007/s10209-004-0092-zincrease in the cost of social care, unless technological
solutions can be found to enable people to stay in theirown homes for longer. Finally, there are legislative
requirements for systems which are accessible to olderand disabled people. The UK Disability Discrimination
Act requires that ‘‘reasonable steps’’ are taken to ensurethat systems are accessible to people with disabilities[34], and similar legislation has been enacted in the USAand other countries.
The need to develop technology for older people isdriven by practical economic considerations, as well asmoral and legal necessities. Many of the over-60s possesssignificant wealth, with people over 60 on average havingmore wealth than people under 40 regardless of income
[1], and this distribution of wealth (which peaksin the late 60s) remains true when pensions and housingwealth are disregarded [2]. Some research also suggeststhat older age groups are more inclined to spend theirmoney than younger cohorts [38]. Although there isconsiderable inequality within the over-60 age group,
these figures indicate the existence of a large and wealthypotential market currently neglected by industry. In
addition, as the number of ‘‘older old’’ increases, therewill be a growing market, driven by government andprivate care providers, for assistive technologies [3].Despite these economic realities, industry has not yet
realized the significant benefits of accessible design [19],and most organisations continue to produce products
that are primarily aimed at the youth market. This maybe due to ignorance of the demographic realities, butalso to the genuine difficulty of developing appropriatetechnology for such a target group. Keates argues thatthe typical researcher or developer finds it easier todesign for someone like themselves [18], and young
developers may find it difficult to fully understand theday-to-day impact of age-related impairments. In addition,older people may also have significantly differentneeds, priorities and expectations than young people.If we are to design products which are suitable for,and usable by, older people, it is essential that
researchers and developers are aware of effective methodsfor interacting with, and obtaining high quality datafrom, older people. Such methods will enable us to learnfrom older people what functionality and attributes areimportant to them in new products, what motivatesthem to use a product, and what factors would hinderthe usability of a proposed product, as well as to conceptualisehow parts of older people’s lives could beimproved by technology. It is also important to be awareof the context provided by older people’s lives, and todiscover when technology should be introduced andwhen its introduction would have a negative effect onthe older person’s quality of life.

 

References
1. Banks J, Blundell R, Smith JP (2000) Wealth inequality in the
United States and Great Britain. The Institute for Fiscal
Studies, WP00/02.https://www.ifs.org.uk/workingpapers/wp0020.
pdf. Cited 2000
2. Banks J, Smith Z, Wakefield M (2002) The distribution of
financial wealth in the UK: evidence from 2000 BHPS data.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, WP02/21.https://www.ifs.org.
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