Seniors, Boomers + Internet Usage

SENIORS, BOOMERS + INTÉRNET USAGE Age 65 75 100 Baby Boomer: n. an American born between 1946 and 1964. Senior: n. a person over the age of 65. TECHNOLOGY Internet Use Smart Phone Use 90% >50% 34% 11% 34% Age 50 65 75 100 Internet Use Social Networking Use -From April 2009-May 201o, social networking use among internet users 65 and older grew 100 percent (13% to 26%). From 2004-2009, senior 55% internet usage increased by more than 55 percent. 100% 2004 2009 2009 2010 INTERNET Frequency / Quality More than half of U.S. adults 58 HRS. / MONTH over the age of 65 are online. 70% of all online American 70% 35% seniors say they go online every day. ONLINE EVERY DAY BROADBAND AT HOME Internet usage generally drops off after age 75: Only 34% of adults over 75 access the Internet and only 21% have broadband capabilities at home. 2 HRS. / DAY The average senior citizen that actively uses the internet spends 58 hours a month on the Web. An average of almost 2 hours a day. AGE 34% 21% 75+ ONLINE BROADBAND Age 75 Internet Activities 19% 55% SEND / READ EMAILS BANKING 3% 55% 13% 19% 34% TWITTER (or other status updating service) ONLINE CLASSIFIEDS 13% 34% SOCIAL NETWORKING NEWS Email Social Networking 55%* In the US, 10.6% (nearly 16 million) of Facebook's users are 55+. An amount greater than the combined populations of the 3 most populous US cities. Chicago 89% New York In 2010, 26% of senior Los Angeles Internet users accessed a social networking site. Today, 34% of them use sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Overall, 89% of those ages 65 and older send or read email. 18% of this group accesses them every day. 18%* More than half exchange email messages on a typical day. 34% *55% *18% 34% 26% READ EMAIL EVERY DAY USE SOCIAL MEDIA EVERY DAY 2010 2012 AGING +USABILITY Ability : Required Time As age increases, so does the amount of time needed to complete tasks. Seniors are 74% slower at navigating websites than 25-60 year olds. REQUIRED TIME Age 25 ABILITY Erosion of cognitive + Degraded reaction times. resources. Reduced Dexterity. + Loss of visual acuity. "Aging accelerates drastically around 60, even moreso after 70. Curves of cognitive, perceptual, and motor-skill decline are shaped like hockey sticks. People need more time for the same mental operations; they have less memory capacity and take longer to process the same perceptual input." -Jakob Nielsen Senior-Friendly Design Tips 1. FONT SIZE 4. FORMS + SEARCH Use a font size of 12-point or greater as the default. Search queries and forms should not punish special characters. 2. LINK COLORS 5. ERROR MESSAGES Use standard colors to distinguish between visited/unvisited links (Purple/Blue). Error messages should be simple and contain instructions for an easy fix. 3. INTERFACE Avoid moving interface elements. Websites compliant with most senior-friendly guidelines have higher task success among seniors. 508 Compliance and Accessibility Resource: http://viget.com/inspire/a-designers-guide-to-accessibility-a nd-508-compliance Sources: CPH Research Pew Internet & American Life Project National Library of Medicine U.S. Section 508 Guidelines istrategyLabs Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox Mediamark Research Inc. National Institute on Aging Viget Web Content Accessibility Guidelines © 2012 Fathom - A Digital Marketing & Analytics Agency www.fathomdelivers.com FATHOM Digital Marketing & Analytics with Results that Matter