Is Your Website Senior and ADA Friendly?

According to AARP, Baby Boomers spend about $3 trillion annually and a whopping 78 percent are online, where they’re buying $7 billion in goods and services. As of 2017, they spent more time online than Millennials. It’s likely their time spent online will continue to grow, and they have the resources to support an increasing number of online purchases. Seniors are a very marketable set with serious spending power, and about 47 million live in the United States alone. Most Boomers have healthy retirement savings and are expected to inherit $15 trillion over the next 20 years. Yet many marketers don’t pay adequate attention to this group. According to industry data, only about 10 percent of marketing magic – sadly – is aimed at this age group. And, in some cases, the marketing dollars spent on Seniors go to waste because the message isn’t readable. Let’s face it, age takes its toll on everyday life. Eyesight fades, and reading and interpreting imagery and colors becomes more difficult for some. Tapping a keyboard and clicking a mouse slows because of arthritic hands for others. And aches from sitting can make surfing the internet choppy. As Bette Davis once said, “getting old ain’t for sissies.”  You get the picture. Making websites easier for seniors Senior-accommodating websites beckon, and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)  is responding. W3C develops guidelines that are the international bible of web accessibility protocol aimed at enabling the elderly and those with disabilities to get the message clearly. The organization supports better website navigation for Seniors and the disabled. It’s not as hard as you might think. W3C outlines many tips and best practices that can be implemented by your web team or a content services provider to improve senior website technology. Website accessibility lawsuits are on the rise That&rsqu...