Instructional Design and an Aging Workforce

Further to a previous post.

As instructional designers we need to consider that we are experiencing that a large section of the workforce is an aging population. While “Age is not a disability” – AgelessinAmerica[i]; we still need to be considerate of the material we create and maintain not only accessibility but usability for this important part of our labour market.

When we create learning material we typically strive for a “package” that each of our employees/students will be able to participate fully in and be able to walk away with a new skill or further knowledge. When we do this we use universal design. “Universal design is the principle that guides the process to integrate all elements required to ensure facilities, technology, information, programs, products, and services meet the diverse requirements of today’s society. The usability of what we create may be far more important when considering a workforce of Boomers. Usability is determined by user satisfaction, east of learning, ability to remember organizational structure and functionality, user effectiveness, and efficiency.”[ii]

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 53 percent of the U.S. workforce will be 40 years old or older by 2010.[iii] It is also predicted that this percentage will continue if not increase into the coming years. Necessity will force us consider the various accessibility needs that will arise from an aging workforce and how computer use might be affected by these limitations.

Some limitations that may be experience (and this is certainly would not be the case for all in this workforce category) are decreased vision, decreased hearing, and decreased mobility or dexterity. Microsoft has several articles on “Aging Workforce and Accessible Technology”. They cite that in 2001 the U.S. percentage of population 45-54 had incidences of vision disabilities at .6%, hearing at .6% and typing at .6%. Compare this to the aged population of 25-34 where the incidences were only .4%, .3% and .4% respectively.[iv]

Changes in vision as one ages can range from very mild symptoms to quite serious diseases. These changes may include[v]:

• Difficulty reading small print
• Difficulty adjusting from light to dark
• Sensitivity to glare
• Loss of depth perception
• Difficulty seeing contrasts and colour
• Dry eyes
• Teary or watery eyes

Heather Ferguson, President of the Hearing Foundation of Canada states “People are starting to lose their hearing 20 years earlier than in the past.” “A Canadian Hearing Society Awareness survey indicated five years ago that 25 per cent of people with hearing loss are under 40, and 70 per cent are under 60.”[vi]

Presbycusis is the most common form of hearing loss as a person ages. Sound generally seems less clear and lower in volume. Many with prebycusis will experience:[vii]

• The speech from others may seem mumbled or slurred
• High-pitched sounds such as “s” and “th” are difficult to hear and tell apart
• When there is background noise, conversations are more difficult to understand
• Men’s vocal tones are easier to hear than the higher pitches of a woman’s vocal tones
• Certain sounds can seem overly annoying or loud
• Tinnitus (a ringing, roaring, or hissing sound in one or both ears) may also be heard

As one grows older there are various elements that play on the body that can limit ones dexterity. Arthritis is one such common problem that can cause a stiffening of the joints that makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to utilize your hands as you once did. Arthritis not only effects the hands though, it can seriously effect any joint within the body and long periods of immobility Strokes which typically only occur over the age of 65 can cause loss of physical and mental functions and can include motor function disabilities.

It is well known that life long learning is a much desired necessity not only for corporations to succeed but for adults to continue to grow and develop. There is an increasing need that employees be flexible and adaptable and this ability to continually learn helps these individuals not only be able to improve their skills but apply them to various contexts as well.

We need to understand that research has shown “that those over the age of 45 years are often adventurous and keen to do new things in both work and life. They are willing to augment their skills through training, including their capacity and competence in using new technology.”[viii] With this in mind we can take their enthusiasm to learn, use common instructional design practices, and available accessibility technology minimize any awkwardness yet increase the usability of courses we create.

No longer should we only think that audio should be included for those learners who are auditory learners. It should also be included for those who have difficulty reading small print. Similarly the ability to increase font size seems to be a norm, but needs to be added every time to a program. The option to read text instead of hearing it needs to be included for our learners that are not only visual but are perhaps experiencing some hearing loss. More images while wonderful for visual learners will also assist those that are having trouble seeing the small print or hearing the audio that has been inserted.

Microsoft has full set of tips that an aging population can use to increase the usability of computers in general. These items can be included by instructional designers directly into their course material or as tip sheets. The tips are simple items that we as designers sometimes take for granted that our users will know them and apply themselves to their learning environments. Items include[ix]:

• Enlarging fonts, icons, changing screen resolution,
• Using Microsoft Magnifier to open a floating window that enlarges parts of the screen
• Install speech recognition for voice commands instead of typing or using a mouse
• Use SoundSentry to cue visual notifications for sounds
• Use Narrator to read text aloud
• Change the appearance of the mouse so that it is more recognizable on the screen or it’s
• speed is slower, colour is brighter, etc.
• MouseKeys can change control of the mouse to the keyboard
• Use StickyKeys to press keyboard shortcuts one key at a time
• Filter Keys can be used to minimize repeated keystrokes by anyone with mild tremors
• Changing the contrast on the screen can make the text easier to read

What is wonderful for instructional designers is that more and more accessibility functions are being developed daily as we become more socially responsible and aware that everyone needs to have access to information and learning. As more of these technologies become available for people that may have limiting disabilities they can also be included and should be considered to be a normal inclusion into training materials that are created for the aging population. This portion of our workforce may not have disabilities, as such, but they will experience more and more issues with visual, hearing, and dexterity tasks. These technologies can assist us in creating not only accessible but useable learning.

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[i] Hamilton, T., Discovery Through eLearning (2008, June 26). Seeking ID Techniques to Use with an Aging Workforce. Message posted to http://discovery-thru-elearning.blogspot.com/2008/06/seeking-id-techiques-to-use-with-aging.html
[ii] Canadian Heritage, Creating and Managing Digital Content: Tip Sheets – Internet Accessibility, Retrieved July 10, 2008, from website: http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Digital_Content/Tip_Sheets/Accessibility_CHIN/definition.html
[iii] U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Projected Labor Force Data: Civilian Labor Force, 2006-2016 [Data file].
Retrieved from ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ep/labor.force/clfa0616.txt
[iv] Microsoft Corporation, Aging Workforce and Accessible Technology: Physiological Changes and Aging, Retrieved July 09, 2008 from website: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/aging/physiological.aspx
[v] Health Canada, Healthy Living: Seniors and Aging – Vision Care, Retrieved July 11, 2008, from website: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/life-vie/seniors-aines_vc-sv-eng.php
[vi] Bio-Medicine, Hearing Loss Becoming an Epidemic in Canada, Retrieved July 16, 2008, from website: http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Hearing-Loss-Becoming-an-Epidemic-in-Canada-21234-1/
[vii] National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, Presbycusis, Retrieved July 16, 2008, from website: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/presbycusis.asp
[viii] Bowman, K & Kearns, P 2007, E-learning for the mature age worker: Final report, Dept of Education, Science and Training, Canberra. Retrieved July 16, 2008 from website: http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/webdav/site/flxsite/shared/Research%20and%20Policy%20Advice/Report_Mature_Aged_Workers.pdf (p. 21)
[ix] Microsoft Corporation, Aging Workforce and Accessible Technology: Physiological Changes and Aging, Retrieved July 09, 2008 from website: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/aging/tips.aspx