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Computer Science @ Rochester
Friday, February 04, 2011
12:45 PM
CSB 703
Karyn Moffatt
University of Toronto
Accessibility and Beyond: Addressing the Technology Needs and Wants of Older Adults
Older adults form one of the fastest growing demographics of computer users. Increasingly, they are becoming proficient, savvy, and regular users of a wide variety of technologies including social networking sites like Facebook and video calling services like Skype. However, despite their enthusiasm for the capabilities of new technologies, challenges remain. Aging leads to declines in a wide variety of cognitive and motor processes, which can hamper an individual’s ability to use off-the-shelf technology. Moreover, few technologies have been designed with the needs and preferences of older adults in mind. In this talk, I will present work on improving computer accessibility for older adults, and describe a few projects aimed at envisioning new technologies specifically targeted to both their needs and wants.

Karyn Moffatt is associate director of the Technologies for Aging Gracefully Lab (TAGLab) at the University of Toronto and a postdoctoral fellow supported by NSERC and a CIHR strategic initiative in Health Care, Technology, and Place (HCTP). Karyn’s interests are situated in human computer interaction, and span a range of topics including accessible/assistive technology, social computing, and ubiquitous computing. She earned her PhD in Computer Science (2010) from the University of British Columbia, where she investigated methods for increasing the accessibility of pen-based technology for older adults. She also holds a MSc in Computer Science (2004) and a BASc in Computer Engineering (2001), both from the University of British Columbia.