Website interfaces risk excluding the elderly

Citizens are often directed to websites such as 1177.se, the pensions authority and various municipal sites when contacting authorities. A new study from the School of Education and Communication (HLK) at Jönköping University (JU) shows that the interfaces on these sites contain important information but that they also risk excluding digitally untrained people, such as the oldest citizens.

A digital interface should help a user navigate a website, be user-friendly and designed to make it easy to find information. A digital interface is used, for example, when someone visits a website and fills in forms or clicks on links.

Ernesto Abalo, Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies, conducted the study ‘Digital first or digital only?’. He has analysed the interfaces of several Swedish public sector websites. The websites chosen were those that often affect the quality of life of older citizens and are important part of communication with the Swedish welfare system. Ernesto Abalo studied, among other things, the structure, design and content of the interfaces and the demands they place on users. He concluded that the interfaces generally contain a great deal of information, but that they also place a number of demands on the user.

"I would say that the interfaces, at least the home pages, are something like digital brochures. In addition to having to have reasonably good reading skills and being able to deal with fairly large amounts of text, the user also needs to have a pretty good idea of how to find relevant information. This is in addition to having basic skills in computer and web use,’ says Ernesto Abalo.

Risk of unequal welfare

Abalo also studied how the interfaces invite the user to communicate via other channels, such as via telephone, office visits and email, and found that this differs between interfaces.

“Some interfaces make it easier for people to find other means of contact, while others make it quite difficult for the user to contact the authority in question. As a user, you are then left to your ability to perform various e-services, which may be unproblematic for some user groups, but much more difficult for older people, for example. The consequence is that digitalisation shifts certain responsibilities to the citizen, which risks creating unequal welfare,” he says.

Ernesto Abalo believes that the design and layout of interfaces may be one reason why many older people avoid them.

“Previous research on the digital habits of older people shows that although the group should be seen as heterogeneous, about 15% of this group can be considered non-users of the internet in Sweden and a large proportion of older people do not use online welfare services. It is not unreasonable to conclude that the design and content of the interfaces do not motivate older people to increase their use,” says Ernesto Abalo.

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