Improving accessibility of tactile interaction for older users: lowering accuracy requirements to support drag-and-drop interaction

International audienceMobile applications offer great possibilities to the aging population but older adults face accessibility problems when using devices equipped with touchscreen. In order to respond to older users' special needs, it is necessary to support older users during tactile interaction to reduce error rates. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of the accuracy requirements for drag-and-drop interaction. 24 able-bodied older adults with different profiles (aged 65 to 86 years old, with corrected and not corrected eyesight, normal and low dexterity, different levels of education, different experience of use of computers and touchscreen) executed a series of tactile puzzle games on smartphone and tablet, with pen and fingers. We evaluate the number of errors for two levels of accuracy required for positioning the puzzle pieces: 95% (higher) and 80% (lower). Older adults made fewer errors of accuracy during lower accuracy levels and consequently fewer supplementary gestures for positioning the targets. Besides, lowering the accuracy requirement was an effective support for interaction because it also reduced the effects of users' profiles, improving the accessibility for people with no experience of use of computers

An analysis of social interaction between novice older adults when learning gesture-based skills through simple digital games

This paper reports three exploratory empirical studies with older adults that had little or no prior experience with interactive technologies. The participants were introduced to interactive technology by playing games on touchscreens, playing in pairs with the assistance of a mentor. We focus on two principle aspects, the peer-to-peer interaction during these sessions, and the role of the mentor in progressing the sessions. In the case of peer-to-peer interaction we looked for ways in which players supported each other during interaction to assess the role of peer interaction in this context. In the case of mentoring, we examined the efficacy of a minimalist approach where verbal encouragement, suggestions or (in the last resort) intervention are used to provide support to learners. The sessions showed that learners typically could play and learn basic manipulations independently after initial help and guidance from mentors. We also found that peer interaction, both in verbal and non-verbal communication and cooperative action was broadly a positive influence within sessions, suggesting that there is significant value in building confidence as well as in learning

Study of the interaction of older adults with touchscreen

Utiliser une tablette ou un smartphone est désormais courant. Cependant, les effets de l'âge sur les capacités motrices nécessaires pour l'exécution des gestes d'interaction tactile n'ont pas été suffisamment pris en compte lors de la conception et de l'évaluation des systèmes interactifs, une des raisons qui a empêché l'inclusion numérique de ce groupe d'utilisateurs. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier l'interaction des personnes âgées avec les écrans tactiles afin d'identifier des problèmes d'utilisabilité sur des supports variés (smartphone et tablette, doigt et stylet). Pour cette étude, nous avons conçu un système interactif constitué de jeux de type puzzle numérique tactiles, où le geste d'interaction drag-and-drop (glisser-déposer) est employé pour positionner les cibles. Dans ce contexte, une attention particulière a été portée à l'analyse des mouvements de l'utilisateur. L'analyse des postures du poignet durant l'interaction a permis d'élucider la relation entre les caractéristiques des mouvements des personnes âgées avec leurs performances, à savoir, des temps plus longs et une augmentation du nombre d'erreurs par rapport aux utilisateurs adultes plus jeunes. Prendre en compte la variabilité des capacités motrices des utilisateurs lors des phases de conception et évaluation des systèmes interactifs est nécessaire pour comprendre leurs difficultés et améliorer l'ergonomie et utilisabilité de l'interaction tactile.Tablets and smartphones have become mainstream technologies. However, the aging effects on the motor skills implied on tactile interaction haven't been enough considered during the design and evaluation of tactile interactive systems, what prevent this group of older adult users to be digitally included successfully. This thesis aims to study the interaction of older adults with touchscreens in order to identify usability issues on different devices and input modalities (smartphone and tablet, finger and stylus). To this study, we designed an interactive system consisted of tactile puzzle games and using drag-and-drop interaction for positioning the puzzle pieces into their corresponding targets. In this framework, a special attention was given to the analysis of the movements of the user. The analysis of the postures of the users' wrists during interaction allowed to elucidate the relationship between the characteristics of the movements of older adults and their performances, particularly concerning the longer times needed for executing the gestures of interaction as well as the increased error rates of this group of users when compared to younger adults. Taking into account the variability of users' motor skills during the design and evaluation of interactive systems is necessary to better understand their difficulties as well as to improve the ergonomics and the usability levels of tactile interaction