Development of a Framework to Improve the use of Mobile Devices by the Elderly

Abstract

The increase in the life expectancy has led to a higher number of elderly people accessing technology and mobile devices (cell phones and tablets). However, in general, the elderly present difficulties in this interaction because, in addition to the physical limitations imposed by aging, many applications were not properly designed to consider such restrictions. This paper presents the results of a survey pointing out main difficulties that elderly people face when using mobile devices and proposes strategies to overcome these barriers. The research was carried out by applying questionnaires in the form of customized applications. Based on the answers, some alternatives were proposed to try to circumvent the reported difficulties and to make the elderly acquire autonomy and use their devices safely, efficiently, without frustration regardless of their physical limitations. In order to evaluate and validate the proposals, a framework was developed to make it easier for application developers to create interfaces that incorporate the proposed estrategies.