Table 1.

Characteristics of Older Adults that Informed the Architectural Design of the PEP Interface

Cognitive	Ability to process information slows.22, 23
	Attention, short-term memory, discourse comprehension, problem-solving, reasoning skills, interference construction and elucidation, memory encoding and retrieval diminish.24
	Declines in spatial memory impair navigation of spatial objects from a map.25, 26
	Easily distracted by task errors, features that jump out from the display (i.e. “pop-ups”).27, 28
	Computer programs are more difficult to use when they include sounds; sound plus text increases cognitive load and is neither preferred or effective.29, 30
Spatial Visual	Sensitivity to color and contrast are reduced as is ability to accommodate to change in illumination level. Sensitivity to glare is increased.31-33
	Less likely to notice movement on screen or subtle screen changes.32, 34
	Blue background with dark bold type minimizes perception of glare.35
	Figures rendered as flat shapes with thick, dark outlines support diminished perception of color contrast and edge discrimination. 35, 36
	Reduced animation speed accommodates diminished ability to process visual information.35
Motor Skills	Using a mouse to perform clicking, dragging, or scrolling is difficult; many have stiff fingers/hands and fine tremors. Light pen (stylus) is the preferred input device.32, 37-42
	Prefer self-paced interaction tasks rather than computer-paced.34
	Need more time to recover from disruptions stemming from making interface errors. 34
General Attributes	Graphics with minimal text sustain interest.1
	Gender-, race- and age neutral animated humanoid are preferred.35
	Bold, Arial Black 20 point font preferred with large (3 cm) navigation buttons.35