Much has been made of the aging of America, but our youth-obsessed marketing culture may be missing the boat when it comes to conducting business on the internet.
At a panel discussion held today at DEMO Spring 2012 Steve Jurvetson, managing director at VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Jody Holtzman, a senior vice president at AARP, report many companies are doing nothing to accommodate older consumers with their online presence.
Before we discuss more, consider these facts bout the 50+ age demographic:
- they consume 60 percent of all consumer goods,
- they consume 80 percent of all leisure travel, and
- they shop online 3 times as much as 18-34 year olds.
Those are impressive numbers. Do you know for certain who is visiting your site? It might pay for you to analyze your company’s web traffic and get some hard numbers about the age demographics of your visitors. Don’t be surprised if 60% or more of your traffic is coming from seniors. If even 30% is 50+ you should be taking steps to ensure their experience is a satisfying one, or risk losing them.
What can you do in the design process to improve the accessibility of your website? First, understand the types of impairments that are typical of aging online consumers:
- reduced visual ability
- hearing loss
- psychomotor impairments
- loss of motor control
- attentional factors
- learning and memory impairments
Considering these limitations when designing systems used by aging populations will significantly improve click-through rates and create positive response to the experience and the brand.
UK grocery giant Tesco reported that many non-disabled customers have switched from the main Tesco site to the Tesco Access site because it was faster and easier to use. It also generated a heap of of additional revenue – £13million annually. Ultimately, the lessons learned in the Tesco Access site were incorporated into their main website, eliminating the need for a separate site.
For more information about the specific kinds of improvements that can be realized, and the types of design choices that will improve your site for people with aging-related impairments, read this report from www.usability.gov, Web Usability and Aging.
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