Abstract

0 Sav tch & Zaph r s
people with other specific disabilities. They may therefore be of benefit for people
with dementia as well.
It should also be remembered that impairments with age and with dementia are
not uniform, and so there is no specific pattern of reduced ability to design for
(Hawthorn, 2000).
The main design ideas identified as playing a part in making a Web site more accessible
to people in the early stages of dementia are simplified displays, avoiding or
eliminating distractions, having consistent and familiar page designs, and providing
contextual support. The use of graphics, icons, and sound, and the importance
of the language and content of Web sites are also stressed. Navigation and menu
design is identified as perhaps the most important issue when designing Web sites
for people with dementia. Finally, it is recognised that dementia is a progressive
disease, and that people with dementia may need support and assistance when using
Web sites.
Simplify.Displays
The problems that people with dementia may have with attention, concentration,
and especially divided attention (Morris, 1994) have fundamental implications for
designing Web site displays. Simple Web site designs will be easier for someone in
the early stages of dementia to use. Indeed, it has long been agreed that older users
in general are more likely to benefit from interfaces that reduce the complexity of
the task that the user is attempting (Hawthorn, 2000). Simplified displays may be
especially appropriate for people with Alzheimer’s disease because of the problems
they may have with impaired perceptual recognition (agnosia) and visuospatial
perception (Jackson & Owsley, 2003).
When communicating with people with dementia it is important to reduce cognitive
load. For example, by reducing the need to multitask, eliminating distractions,
and asking individuals to recognise rather than recall (Bayles, 2003). While in the
HCI field, Sutcliffe et al. (2003) recommend that designers of assistive technologies
should keep tasks and dialogue complexity to a minimum; simplify screens,
prompts, and menus, and provide clear progress status displays. These principles
can be applied to Web site design for people with dementia.
Visuospatial abilities are needed to scan through information on the page for the
information that is important. For example, older adults with higher spatial scanning
ability scores have been shown to perform better on word processing tests than those
with lower scores (Dyck & Smither, 1995). As these abilities may be impaired in
dementia, displays should be simplified to ensure that important information is not
missed. From their work on assistive technologies in general, Sutcliffe et al. (2003)
recommend clear and simple prompts, simple screen layouts, the elimination of
icons and complex graphics, and the clarification of metaphors.
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