Mainstream Tablet Apps for Older Adults: Testing Usability and Accessibility

WHO AND WHAT?

The development and implementation of technologies to promote the physical and mental well-being of older adults (OA) have been areas of growing interest in recent decades.The AcTo Dementia framework (AcTo) evaluates touchscreen apps’ accessibility for individuals living with dementia, based on app various feature categories (Interaction, Feedback, Aesthetic Design, App Design, Customization, Obstacles, Age Appropriateness, Game Apps). The framework may be expanded to score the accessibility and usability of mainstream apps in healthy OA in addition to individuals with dementia. The present study aimed to assess the usability of five commercially available mainstream tablet applications to investigate whether the AcTo framework criteria and scoring is reflected in the user experience of OA. 

HOW?

The App Testing Questionnaire (ATQ), an adaptation of the AcTo framework, was created to measure user experience of tablet apps in OA. Seven healthy OA participants were recruited to test 5 tablet apps previously evaluated by the AcTo framework. Each participant completed the ATQ and provided verbal feedback for each app. The data was analyzed by comparing the AcTo’s feature category scores with the ATQ’s category equivalents.

FINDINGS

Apps scoring high in overall OA user experience showed more similarities in ATQ and AcTo scores, compared to low user-scoring apps. The ATQ scores and user feedback compared to the AcTo scores demonstrate that the AcTo framework’s grading categories for accessible app features are valid measures of usability and accessibility in OA.  

IMPORTANCE

The qualitative feedback from real users gathered in this study provides suggestions on how the AcTo may be further adapted to include the scoring of usability and accessibility features that are relevant to OA user experience. Useful recommendations to app developers also can be made based to improve future app update roll-outs.