As a mature adult student, I struggle daily with a visual challenge called Presbyopia. It is the eye’s inability to focus on objects that are close up and is why you will notice me wearing reading glasses in class.
The cause is the natural affects of aging on your eyes much like wrinkles in your skin. This condition usually occurs to people in their early to mid-40’s.
As Instructional Designers, we need to keep this in mind especially if the target audience includes middle-aged or older users. The problem is that some font styles, especially serif, and sizes are hard to read even with the aid of reading glasses. The same is true for small graphics and images.
What are some other considerations you might have for mature users who have this visual challenge?
I think one way to help users with visual challenges is to offer a text to speech option. Most computers have this option but if not a simple download will enable the text to be read off the page to the user. I also think that choosing color schemes would make a big difference. If you have a hard time reading small text as it is, imagine having to read red text on a green background… impossible! I think that this issue goes beyond mature adult learners, often times I have young students who have a hard time reading on the computer because it is too small for them or the font is in a script type making it impossible for them to read. After reading the article you posted on presbyopia, I think that another thing that needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that this challenge causes headaches. It is important that you only read and focus on things for a minimal amount of time or a headache will occur. This is important to keep in mind as you are working with older learners, keep the text limited and allow for the user to take breaks between reading passages.
ReplyDeleteSince beginning the AHRD program we have consistently emphasized understanding your audience when designing instruction. As Lohr discusses, it is imperative as a designer to take into account your audience when designing graphics for learning and performance. As we begin to create and classify images that support education, we must take into account our users and the potential ability/disability they may have as learners. The use of an image to convey a message or support the learning is used quite often, however, what if they can't see the image as Jackie suggested? As designers we have to create with the user in mind and utilize the ideas of universal design to support learning. We must always ask ourselves; what is most likely to work for the majority of the population? I don't know what the answer is for someone who has presbyopia, myopia or any other visual defect but it has been my experience that often the right image has helped these people learn without constantly reading off the computer.
ReplyDeleteAs a person with a variety of visual challenges - myopia, presbyopia, and astigmatism - it is no wonder I appreciate images and grow weary of reading documents on computer monitors (although I do it all the time). When creating instructional images containing words, remember that sans serif fonts work better on a computer screen than fonts with serifs. Also, when designing web pages, you have more control over what your user sees if you choose a particular font rather than using the "default" font.
ReplyDeleteThe text to speech option is a feature that I use all the time now that my vision has deteriorated. Examples that I use include using the voice recognition when dialing a phone number on my cell phone. I simply say the persons name and it recognizes that name and dials it. The screen display then indicates in large letters the number dialed as well as announcing the persons name.
ReplyDeletePoor vision is something that is not understood until one encounters the problem. Much visual data is not displayed in large text which makes the most creative and beautiful work unreadable without steps already mentioned in this blog. This week alone I have had to change to contacts that use 5 different levels of distance vision to see properly. I've had to purchase new glasses specifically for computer use and another pair for reading and long distance. It is a major problem that seems to go largely unrecognized by the marketers of products. Digital instruments such as watches, heart rate monitors, telephones, remote controls, etc., are not suited for use without constant modification. Visual clarity through maps for instance recently helped me with a display on my GPS. This is an excellent example of how technology can help with vision challenged persons.
I think that presbyopia might affect more people in their early to mid 40’s, but as instructional designers we need to consider that younger adults might have this problem as well. When we design training it’s important to study our audience to better target the content we are going to present. When developing a visual design it is crucial that the information is readable and that everyone can see it. I also think that the use of small fonts, graphics and images is hard for everyone to deal with, not only for people with presbyopia. They are hard for me… does that mean I have presbyopia? The colors chosen for a visual design are pivotal for the learner too. I also think that when we create educational designs it is key to have representational images to help the learner store in the long term memory and in a future recall that information easily as Lohr (2008) explained throughout the first three chapters.
ReplyDeleteBy incorporating the design skills we are learning in class to the images we create, we will be able to accommodate as many users as possible. I feel that effective design skills help to alleviate many of the problems encountered with modern screens. Also screen technology is progressing very rapidly and technologies such as electronic ink and organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens, will continue to make things easier for the visual impaired. The next 20 years will see the advent of heads up-displays (HUD's) and retinal screens to further assist with sight issues. But all of these technologies are rendered moot without the addition of effective and quality visual design. Hopefully as visual medium continue to infiltrate every aspect of our lives more attention will be given to visual literacy in the education process, so that more people will be able to benefit from these advances.
ReplyDeleteUpon reading Mrs. Rufo's original post, my memory immediately registered to about a year ago when my grandmother took a technology course at her church. Within the first few days of class, she called me with complaints of not being able to understand many things, as well as things looking cluttered on the screen. Upon helping her with her homework I saw that the PowerPoint slides the course instructor were using was cluttered with tiny text (which she had trouble viewing due to her own presbyopia) as well as had a chaotic mix of graphics. In order to help her make some sense, I initially raised the resolution on her computer to make things appear larger, as well as increased the font on the slides. Reflecting on this situation now, makes me slightly frustrated with the instructor of this course. As instructional designers we must always consider the learner in our construction of curriculum. No matter age or experience. As we learned in class, minimal and readable text, and clear graphics are the key sometimes to making things meaningful for a variety of learners. Unfortunately, in my grandmother's case, she was unable to retain the information in which she had signed up for in the first place because of the instructors lack of consideration for the learner.
ReplyDeleteJackie your question intrigues me as I was not aware of the medical conditions that affect middle-aged and older users. I decided to do more research and found an article written in 2005 by The AARP entitled "Designing Web Sites for Older Adults". Prior to reading this article I was not aware that such a significant amount of the population has motor control problems and significant short term memory loss. As prospective instructional designers these are issues that we need to be aware of if we hope to successfully reach members of this community. Furthermore, when designing E-learning training programs for this population it is imperative that we take into consideration that older adults have a wide range of physical and cognitive abilities that may impact their use, enjoyment and success with online programs.
ReplyDeleteKeeping a mature audience in mind I was thinking about specific tasks where users may encounter design "road blocks". Although I am relatively young and computer literate, I think that the design for many "help" features on different software etc. could use some re-vamping.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that too often the directions of where to search, how to search and finally the directions to solving your problem are unorganized, confusing, and hard to see. This would be a place where an instructional designer and a programer could really work together to make the task of finding answers on your computer more efficient.
One idea for change would be to allow the user to select a knowledge level so that the computer could tailor the design of "help" windows etc. to that persons needs.
Other solutions may include things like making windows bigger, using more images to describe procedures and choosing larger (more legible) font. These may be helpful to someone like George's grandmother who is learning how to use a computer.
Jackie, I know exactly where you are coming from. Although it took me a long time to admit my vision was changing as I grew older, I never realized it had an actual name, other than "getting old". No offence to Dr. Wilcox, but I find the original format of this blog to be very hard to read - the small font to for me, and this is just me, the print looks light blue, which blends in a bit more to the background. If I was not aware of the ability to increase the page size, I would struggle to read the blogs and replies.
ReplyDeleteI looked into Presbyopia and there is not a real cure for it but some suggestions are glasses, contacts or surgery. Think I'll stick with my fancy reading glasses!