Civil Service Newsletter March 2024 Issue No.117

Close up

A A A 繁體版 简体版

Smart Statistics: C&SD's Digital Transformation in
the Era of Big Data

Elderly-friendly designs - Making the cyberspace more accessible to senior citizens

Explanation of WCAG 2.0 Level Double-A Conformance
Elderly-friendly designs Making the cyberspace more accessible to senior citizens

Digital Policy Office

With the vibrant development of digital technology, digital inclusion and accessibility designs have become increasingly important. In light of the ageing population, we have attached greater importance to the needs of the elderly in using digital technologies. In view of this, the Digital Policy Office has launched the Elderly-friendly Website/Mobile Application Design Guide (Design Guide) to provide recommendations and examples on areas such as the contents, functionalities, and layout designs of websites and mobile applications for reference purpose.

The Design Guide is formulated with reference to the guidelines promulgated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on universal elderly-friendly design standards for websites and mobile applications respectively, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by the World Wide Web Consortium, as well as the feedback collected from local elderly service organisations.

Four principles and 18 baseline design criteria are set out in the Design Guide, and some examples for illustrating the four principles are extracted as follows:

Principle 1 - Clear and Easy-to-understand Content

Recommendations include using simple and easy-to-understand texts, and providing concise link descriptions.

Example 1: When a process involving multiple steps (such as the steps for handwashing) is described in the content, illustrations should be provided to make the content more interesting and easier for the elderly to remember.
Example 1: When a process involving multiple steps (such as the steps for handwashing) is described in the content, illustrations should be provided to make the content more interesting and easier for the elderly to remembe
Principle 2 - Layout is Easy to Read and Operate

Recommendations include using appropriate colour contrast, larger font size or text enlargement features, and providing larger clickable areas for targets (such as buttons), etc.

Example 2: Enlarge the size of the clickable focus area of the main component (e.g. buttons) to make it easier for the elderly to tap.
Example 2: Enlarge the size of the clickable focus area of the main component (e.g. buttons) to make it easier for the elderly to tap.
Principle 3 - Provide Clear Steps and Instructions

Recommendations include providing error identification and suggestion function for forms, avoiding setting usage time limits, or providing functionality to extend time limits, etc.

Example 3: The error alert on the page clearly explains how to correct the relevant parts.
Example 3: The error alert on the page clearly explains how to correct the relevant parts.
Principle 4 – Compatible with Third-party Tools

Recommendations include supporting voice input method, which enables the elderly to interact with websites or mobile applications through voice input.

Example 4: The page supports voice input, making it more convenient for the elderly who are not good at using keyboard to input information.
Example 4: The page supports voice input, making it more convenient for the elderly who are not good at using keyboard to input information.

All bureaux and departments are encouraged to widely adopt elderly-friendly designs in their websites and mobile applications, so as to provide our senior citizens with the keys to the digital world.

For further information about the Design Guide, please download it via the link below :
https://www.digitalpolicy.gov.hk/en/our_work/digital_government/digital_inclusion/accessibility/promulgating_resources/application_design_guide/doc/elderly_friendly_design_guide_eng.pdf

Elderly-friendly Website /
Mobile Application Design Guide

For any enquiries, please email us at wac@digitalpolicy.gov.hk or call us at 3974 6026.


2024© | Important notices

Last Review Date: 31 December 2024