Having my mother-in-law live here for the last couple of weeks has definitely highlighted how horrible accessibility is in technology. My mother-in-law has a Blackberry Playbook as well as an Acer Chromebook. Neither device is completely intuitive for her to use, and all she does on the devices is:

• Listen to audiobooks
• Browse Facebook
• Watch Netflix
• Basic Online Banking

Neither device allows for the complete UI to be resized for easier viewing. Buttons and navigational items are usually too small for her to easily touch. Even with a giant mouse cursor, she has issues on her Chromebook trying to control things.

Something simple, like logging into her Chromebook can be difficult for her. The keyboard is small and she has issues trying to figure out which keys to hit, and the password field is tiny, and she can’t tell if she’s hit a key or not.

It is frustrating to see her struggle so much, especially with devices that should have more accessibility options.

I would love to see more senior-focused technology. I really believe that it could help them stay connected, and as we see more baby boomers age, and need assistive devices, the technology world should cater to that need.

In the end, I constantly have to help her as she struggles to try to touch or click on the right icon, and I feel it shouldn’t have to be this way.

If you know of technology options for seniors that might help my mother-in-law who has issues with her vision, depth perception, and hearing, please let me know.