Elias, retiree with low vision, hand tremor, and mild short-term memory loss in Stories of Web Users, How People with Disabilities Use the Web

Accessibility: It's about people

Note: This user story is an example of a person with this type of disability. Other people with this disability may have different experiences.

About Elias

I love all this new technology. It is great to see my grandchildren. It takes me a bit to find all the controls and sometimes they are a bit on the small side, but I get there in the end.

Elias is hard of hearing and has low vision, hand tremor, and short term memory loss. Elias had a long and successful career as an architect. He delayed retirement until he was in his 70’s because as the senior architect in his firm, he was often sought after to mentor the new hires and guest lecture at local universities. Elias has macular degeneration that blurs his vision and makes reading more difficult. Over time, the demands of the close-up work necessary to render architectural drawings strained his eyes to the point that he could only work a couple of hours at a time. He finally had to stop work when he developed a mild hand tremor and found it too difficult to maintain the precision required for his work.

Currently, at age 85, Elias’s family has started to notice some short term memory loss. Even so, Elias maintains an active interest in the history of architecture and is part of a small group of people who share his passion and write about it online. His blog has an active following and helps ensure he is still able to contribute to the field.

Like many older people, Elias has difficulty reading small text. He subscribes to an online rather than physical version of the newspaper because he is able to increase the size of the text, making it easier to read. However, on some sites this does not work as well because either the text gets cut off or the larger text doesn’t flow to the next line and he has to scroll horizontally off screen. His tremor makes it difficult to scroll across in a straight line. While this is easier than managing the large pages of a print newspaper, the best instance is when the text resizes and reflows properly.

For all of the benefits of using a computer to read the news and stay active in his field, Elias often has difficulty with the security on some websites. On sites that use CAPTCHA, it is sometimes hard for him to identify the distorted text or identify the images in photos because they are usually not clearly rendered. On sites that send a security code, Elias has to interrupt what he is doing to look on his phone and copy a code, and sometimes the codes are long and hard to transcribe correctly. When using a site that requires CAPTCHA, Elias finds it much simpler if the text or images are easy to identify. If a security code is required, a short group of numbers or letters makes it easier to read and transcribe.

Barrier examples

Inaccessible CAPTCHA
Barrier: “When I login to my online banking I need to complete a CAPTCHA but I can’t really read it well.”
Works well: “My banking login sends me a text with a simple code to confirm it is me.”
Text doesn’t reflow
Barrier: “When I resize a website using my browser some of the text disappears or is cut short and sometimes I have to scroll across the screen as well as down.”
Works well: “When I resize a website using my browser the text is all still available and is presented in a longer thinner column that doesn’t need to be scrolled sideways.”
Distracting animations
Barrier: “When my screen is magnified, animations are very distracting because I don’t get the full context of what is going on.”
Works well: “Allow me to stop any animation on the screen so I can concentrate on what I’m looking at.”
Tables don’t zoom well
Barrier: “Online tables sometimes have a lot of space between the columns and when I’m zoomed it, I have to scroll from left to right to see all of the content and I often miss the association from one column to the next.”
Works well: “When I zoom the tables change from lots of columns to being presented more like a list with each row being shown as a list item.”
Breadcrumb
Barrier: “I often lose my place on websites. Sometimes I follow several links and it’s not what I’m looking for. I can use the back button to go back page by page but I still get lost.”
Works well: “A breadcrumb at the top of each page that shows my path through the site keeps me on track, plus it helps me get back to the home page really quickly.”
Login page
Barrier: “I have accounts with so many different websites that sometimes I forget my password.”
Works well: “An option to remember my password for this site and a means of resetting my password if I need to.”
Saved information
Barrier: “When I place an order, I have trouble remembering things, like telephone number, address, and credit card details.”
Works well: “This store remembers from before, so I only need to select right address in the text field, rather than need typing each time.”

Assistive technologies and adaptive strategies used

Video: Elias, retiree with low vision, hand tremor, and mild short-term memory loss

This video is also available on a W3C server: Video: Elias, retiree with low vision, hand tremor, and mild short-term memory loss (file format: MP4, file size: 162MB).

Text Transcript with Description of Visuals

Audio Visual
How people with disabilities use digital technology; Elias, retiree with low vision, hand tremor, and mild short-term memory loss. How people with disabilities use digital technology; Elias, retiree with low vision, hand tremor, and mild short-term memory loss.
Hello! I’m Elias. I’m a retired architect. Life moves slower now that I’m retired, and I think my body does too! A man speaks directly to the camera.
I see less and hear less than in my younger days. Also, my hands shake a little. My children live far away, so we see each other online instead. We also write to each other and send pictures. It’s so much easier and quicker than going to the post office every time. The man is sitting at his desk using a laptop. He is participating in an online video call with one other person using a video conferencing app.
My trouble is all this small text! Why do they write so small? I know how to make the text size bigger but it doesn’t work with all websites. Sometimes everything seems to break down – the text overlaps or goes somewhere else or disappears completely. Or, I have to scroll sideways to read – I don’t have the time and energy for that. The man is sitting at his desk using a laptop. He is trying to use a website which does not have responsive design.
It’s the same with apps. I made the text bigger on my mobile phone. I can’t see without doing that on such a small screen. Most apps work well but not the banking app. The text on that app is still small, and I need to use it to log into my bank account. I already called them several times about this but nothing happens. The man is sitting at his desk using a zoomed-in messaging app on a mobile phone. He then changes to using a banking app.
It’s not only reading, though. When the text is small, all the buttons and links are also small. Sometimes tiny. Especially on forms where you have to click and select all these things – it’s hard with my hands, they don’t behave like they used to. The man is sitting at his desk using a laptop. He tries to make a selection from a list, but the text is very small.
Our grocery store now has an online shop, which is fantastic because I don’t have to carry all the shopping any more. The text is big and it has big links and buttons. It just seems clearer and easier to find things – everything is where it should be on every page. Usually, I have trouble remembering things, like the telephone number, address, and credit card details. This store remembers from before, so I only need to select the right address in the text field rather than needing to type it each time. I wish all websites could be that easy. The man is sitting at his desk using a laptop. He is successfully using the website of his online grocery store.
You can help make technology accessible to me. Accessibility: It’s about people. The man speaks directly to the camera.
For more information from the Web Accessibility Initiative on how people with disabilities use digital technology, visit w3.org/WAI/people Accessibility: It’s about people; w3.org/WAI/people
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