Tablet computers for older people in Thailand and the UK: usability and effects of different text presentations

As there is a sharp increase in the older population in Thailand, the UK and worldwide and the older population will continue to grow worldwide in the next two decades. The use of personal technologies such as tablet computers has also rapidly increased in both Thailand and the UK. Although the number of older people using tablet computers has increased, some older people still have issues in using tablet computers. Thus the usability and acceptability of tablet computers for older people is still an issue and there is little research about how to best present text on tablet computers on tablets for older people in English and none for the Thai language.
Therefore this programme of research investigated usability issues in using tablet computers and attitudes toward tablet computers for older people in Thailand and the United Kingdom. In addition, it investigated a number of aspects of text presentation for tablet computers in Thai and English with both younger and older people. Study 1 focused on older people’s attitudes to and use of the tablet computers and another three studies focused on the effects of text presentation on tablets. Study 2 investigated font types and font sizes, Study 3 investigated text and background colours, and Study 4 investigated column format and text justification.
Key findings included that Thai and UK older people had positive attitudes toward tablets, although some encountered usability problems such as text which was too small and not resizable. In addition, tapping and zooming on the tablet were generally easy for older people, but tapping is still a problem for some of them. On text presentation, on the basis of the findings in these studies, 18 point text in a Sans Serif typeface for English and a Serif typeface for Thai are recommended for text presentation on tablets. Black text on a white background is the best for readers in both countries. Finally, a format of two columns with left justification is recommended for both English and Thai, when tablets are used in landscape orientation.