Website usability is essential to the success of your business website, and this means ensuring that it is inclusive and accessible to everyone. A third of the British population are aged over 50, and most of them are online and ready to spend. In fact, three-quarters of this group shop online regularly, and they spent over $14 billion in 2015. Don’t forget that this group is also affluent, owning over two-thirds of all UK wealth.
But forget to design with their needs in mind and you will lose this group to your competitors. Remember, it takes more than simply choosing stock images that feature older people. It means ensuring your website is inclusive and accessible to all.
Vision
Eyesight starts to degenerate from around the age of 30, and by 40 most people’s eyesight is significantly worse than when they were young. Long-sightedness is common as well as reduced colour perception. Make sure you use a website font that is easy to read and well sized. Consider colour contrast, too, so that it ‘pops’ and is easy to read without being tiring. Avoid serif and fancy fonts which are too complex to read, or limit them to design features only.
Hearing
Hearing also tends to get worse from around 50 onwards, so make sure any video content is made clearly without background noise. Add captions or a transcript for those who prefer to read.
Fine Motor skills
These skills grow weaker over time, so make sure your navigation is easy to use and has large clickable spaces. Also make sure that it is possible to navigate your site using the keyboard only. Avoid having pop-ups that require the user to hover over them in order to access the content.
A Sheffield web design agency such as http://www.dearnevalleywebdesign.co.uk/ can assist you with this work and will carry out up to 100 checks on your website to ensure it meets the best practice standards for usable web design. Remember that these points above apply to people of all ages, not just older visitors, so your investment will pay off broadly.
So don’t risk losing your customers to competing sites. Make sure yours is inclusive, accessible and ready to be enjoyed by all, and see your conversions grow as a result.