Designing new interfaces for digital interactive television usable by older adults

The adoption of digital television (DTV), if appropriately designed, could be particularly attractive for older people, who tend to be overlooked when new services and applications are introduced, and remain a marginalized segment of the television broadcasting population. This article explores a range of methodologies and interactive approaches designed to support older people who have difficulties in using current interface models for DTV. Following an extensive requirements-gathering exercise, four different navigational layouts with a simplified remote control were tested and evaluated with older users to assess their ease of use. The results demonstrated the expected difficulties in understanding some of the terminology and interactive concepts utilized in "traditional" DTV design. Aspects of the experimental layouts suggest promising new directions in the development of visualization and navigation metaphors for user-led activities on DTV for older adults.