Text Entry Systems

CHAPTER 14

Text Input for the Elderly and the Young

Janet C. Read,     University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, UK

14.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter considers text input from the perspective of two user groups, the elderly and the young. Brouwer-Janse et al. (1997) describe the two user groups of the elderly and the young as “outstanding,” a rather unusual word, perhaps, but nonetheless this draws attention to the fact that both groups display generational differences that impact on interface design (Read et al., 2004b). In considering these two groups in a single chapter, the focus is on justifying designing for them, highlighting the differences that need to be designed for, and outlining any specialist technologies.

In recent ...