This post describes some free and low cost ways to help older people browse the web more easily, based on my recent experience helping my grandmother.

Replacing the mouse

For people like my grandmother with shaky hands, it’s hard to hold the mouse still while they click. It’s also confusing to have to pick up the mouse and reset when they reach the edge of the mouse pad.

We replaced the mouse with a trackball, including a built in scroll wheel. We had good luck with the Logitech Trackman Wheel. With one hand my grandmother could point, click, and scroll, with far fewer problems caused by shaky hands.

Pointing was still a bit of a slow process for her. I think a touch screen solution would be ideal, but unfortunately large touch screen still seem to be too expensive for mainstream use. ($500-$1000 for a 17″ screen.) I’m going to keep an eye on prices, there’s a lot of potential there.

Optimizing web browser settings for older people

I recommend Firefox for older users because of its simple UI and configurability. Here’s how we configured it to make it easier to use.

Configuring firefox for large fonts

It’s easy to configure Firefox to use consistently large font sizes. Go to “Tools : Options : Content : Fonts and Colors : Advanced”. Under the Minimum font size drop down, select a large size like 18 or 20.

Bookmark bar

We also configured a bookmark bar with key links on it like her email inbox and online news. This provided a consistent location where she could click for key tasks. Rather than browsing the entire web, my grandmother tended to focus on a few key sites, so it was possible to put every important link there.

Launch the browser on startup

The browser is literally the only program my grandmother uses, so I configured it to run every time the computer starts up. (On Windows, this is done by dragging a shortcut to the Startup folder under programs.)

Disabling ads

My grandmother was confused by web ads. Seeing as she was unlikely to be a good ecommerce customer, I installed Adblock Plus.

Area for future work: Simplifying page layout with Greasemonkey

Some web pages are overloaded with headers and sidebars that are confusing and that work badly with large font sizes.

It would be relatively simple to write a Greasemonkey extension that would rewrite popular pages to be simpler based on directives from a server.

Ending right click confusion

Steve Jobs was right: the right mouse button is a great source of confusion for beginning computer users. Beginners don’t know which button to click, and how to get rid of the context menu that pops up when you hit the wrong button.

To eliminate this confusion, we mapped the right button to a left click, using a nifty free program called Autohotkey and the following script.

;; map the right button to a left click
RButton::
Click
return

Other suggestions?

I am interested in swapping tips with anyone else who has worked with making web browsers more accessible; please post comments if you have ideas.