Touch screens don’t work for everyone
Working with AgeUK as a digital inclusion volunteer, I saw first-hand how inaccessible touch screen devices can be for elderly people. It also opened my eyes to more people that may have similar challenges.
Image by Timothy Muza on Stocksnap
In 2016, I was a Digital Inclusion volunteer with AgeUK to help elderly people with their digital devices. I volunteered a few hours a week at sessions where people could bring in their personal devices for some help with using them and answering questions they had.
One experience I had was helping Edna (not her real name), an 88 year old woman who brought in an Android tablet. She wanted to use it to check answers to the weekly Crossword puzzles, use Skype for connecting with friends overseas and do a bit of online shopping.
As I guided her through different features on her tablet, I noticed she was having a lot of difficulty with navigating the screen, pressing on buttons and links was slow and unresponsive. I thought it might be an old device that was slow and outdated so I tried it myself. The tablet was very quick and responsive for me.
“Hmm, so it must be something she’s doing”, I thought, maybe she doesn’t want to damage the screen and is pressing really lightly.
“Can you try using a different finger, for me?” She tried with her middle finger. Nothing changed, the same slowness occurred.
I noticed she had fairly long fingernails which I thought might be getting in the way.
“Can you try pressing down with the flat of your finger, not just the tip?” She tried that. Same result.
She started getting frustrated, “it’s my fault, I don’t know how to use this thing properly.” I assured her she wasn’t doing anything wrong and I would look into it further.
I was puzzled why the tablet wasn’t responding for her but it was working fine for me. After the session, I did some research and found that a lot of elderly people were experiencing similar problems with touch screens and it had to do with moisture.
First, a bit of background on touch screens. Almost all devices with touch screens these days, from phones to tablets, use capacitive touch screens. These work by using the electrical charge in our skin to sense where the screen is being touched. The electrical charge is greatest when our hands are warm and moist.
In older people, dry skin is a common problem as less moisture is retained:
As skin ages, the skin has a decreased ability to retain moisture, to control temperature and to sense the surrounding environment. Environmental factors, such as exposure to UV radiation, also have a detrimental effect on skin health over time. https://bpac.org.nz/BPJ/2014/September/dryskin.aspx
And it can start to happen in adults 40 and over as oil and sweat gland function reduces with age.
Dry, flaky skin (xerosis) is the most common skin problem among the elderly. According to the Mayo Clinic, more than half of adults over the age of 40 have dry skin. The age-related reduction in oil and sweat gland function (which helps to keep the skin soft and hydrated) is the main cause of dry skin. https://www.agingcare.com/articles/senior-skin-problems-146550.htm
The puzzle pieces were coming together. This explained why Edna’s tablet wasn’t responding to her fingers and why she was having such difficulty with it. Her fingers were dried out so the tablet wasn’t picking up any electrical charge from her skin. It was like she was wearing gloves and trying to use her phone, which we have all experienced in the winter and why touch screen gloves are a thing these days.
It was a really interesting accessibility problem and something I didn’t even think about until I observed it. It’s yet more evidence why first-hand user research and contextual inquiry is so important. By being there in person, I could see and empathise with Edna and the underlying problems she was experiencing with her device.
There were a few things Edna could try but getting a stylus pen (about £10 for a basic one), was the simplest. She tried it at the next session and voila, it worked like magic. She was so happy and thankful for the help and had a joyful smile on her face.
Thinking more broadly, it’s not just elderly people who might experience problems with touch screens, there are many others who could be affected by temporary or permanent conditions:
People with poor circulation may have colder hands
In the winter, cold and dry hands are more common, as is wearing gloves
Healthcare workers wash their hands a lot and are more prone to dry hands
People with diabetes or blood conditions may have cold hands
Carpenters with callused hands
Guitar players with callused fingers
People with Anemia and low levels of iron may have colder hands
Raynaud’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis causes cold hands
I’ve reflected on this experience a number of times in my work as an experience designer and it’s stuck with me over the years. I feel it’s helped me design and create things more inclusively, and I hope it resonates with you.
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