A Quick-and-Dirty Guide to Configuring Computers for Seniors

A Quick-and-Dirty Guide to Configuring Computers for Seniors version 0.9.5 Released September 2, 2009 [ DRAFT ]

created by PawPawMail.com

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A Quick and Dirty Guide to Configuring Computers for Seniors Table of Contents



i. ii.

Introduction Guiding Principle

1 1



I. II.

Physical Layout Hardware Configuration Monitors Keyboards Mice / Trackballs

2 3 3-4 4 4-5



III.

Visual Guide: Windows XP





6-8



IV.

Visual Guide: Windows Vista





9-10

V.

Visual Guide: Windows Browsers

11



VI.

Visual Guide: Macintosh OS X

12-15



VII.

Visual Guide: Macintosh Browsers

16



IX.

Simplified Hardware Guide





17



X.

Conclusion





18











For the latest version of this document, please visit our Quick and Dirty Guide to Configuring Computers for Seniors at http://pawpawmail.com/about/config

Please contact us with any questions at [email protected] Page ii

A Quick and Dirty Guide to Configuring Computers for Seniors i.

Introduction

This guide is not intended to be a reference for assisting users with major visual, auditory, or cognitive impairments. It’s simply a quick-and-dirty overview for configuring a typical PC or Mac for use by those who are new to computers, or those who are experiencing typical mild symptoms associated with aging. There are many great references for true accessibility issues, not least of which are those published by Microsoft and Apple themselves. For the purposes of this guide, our typical target user would be 70+ and using a computer for the first time, would have very mild visual and motor decline, and would plan on using the computer less than an hour each day. Plenty of 100-year-olds take to computers like ducks to water, and this isn’t meant to imply in any way that seniors will necessarily have special computer configuration needs, so please abandon this guide quickly if you are, or are configuring for, a computer-experienced senior. And be patient with the slow tone if you’re an adult child who is familiar with computers already. We are writing this guide for a broad spectrum of caregivers. Another way we’ve offended people in the past is in explicitly referring to age and the idea that it might confer deficits for computer use. There’s no way of avoiding this, and there’s no avoiding using SOME term to describe an aging population of computer users. We’ve settled on “seniors” (or just “user”), but many people search for terms such as “elder”, “elderly”, “aged”, “older adults”, “aging parents”, even “old people” in conjunction with “computers”, “e-mail” (or more commonly “email”), or “technology”. We include these so that people who use different terms will be able to find this guide. There’s also the problem of identifying the person helping the senior/user (it’s probably you, if you’re reading this) -- we’ll use “manager”, but people also use “caregiver”, “adult child”, “caretaker”, “assistant”, etc. It is unlikely, but even someone experienced might misconfigure a computer. Do not let this keep you from trying. Be careful when implementing all of this, and note what you are doing as you go along. If your screen stops working when you are changing the resolution, for instance, your local teenager should be able to bail you out much more easily if he knows that you had just set your 14-inch monitor to 1920x1200 resolution or that you had just turned on Mouse Keys. Much of the following is highly subjective based on our personal experiences. Take it all with a large chunk of salt. Use what’s useful, ignore what’s not.

ii.

Guiding Principles

Remember that a new computer user is learning hundreds of things simultaneously. Most irritating to many are the hundreds of half-useful metaphors involved in the typical on-screen interface that we might take for granted: “directories” or “folders” (and hierarchically organized subfolders) containing “files”; on-screen “buttons”; text insertion cursors; mouse focus; even the coordination of action between the mouse and the on-screen pointer/cursor. Assuming that’s not overwhelming, there’s also a warehouse full of terminology. Reducing the number of distractions (on-screen and hardware-related), as well as the number of new concepts that must be absorbed simultaneously, is key to quick learning. Page 1

I.

Physical Layout

Generally, toss office-based ergonomic constraints out the window. Repetitive strain is an issue when a task is repeated hundreds of times, not twice. The keyboard, mouse, and monitor should be easy to see, in a well-lit area without on-screen or behind-screen glare from excessively bright sources. • Don’t hesitate to place the monitor as close as possible (within reason) to the user. A 17” monitor close by is probably better than a 21” monitor far away. Turn up the brightness and contrast on the monitor itself, and consider an LCD monitor connected via DVI cables, which generally will produce a more crisp image if configured properly. • The mouse should have a large area for movement. In fact, the ideal mouse may not be a mouse at all. Consider a trackball. They are certainly more cumbersome for intensive use, but for anyone with even the most trivial shakiness or lack of dexterity, they make life much easier. Remember that clicking on something on-screen necessitates keeping the mouse pointer still while clicking -- this becomes easier on a trackball, where you can press the button to click without accidentally moving the pointer in the process. • Try to place the keyboard in a visible location, somewhat elevated. Elevation is especially important for hunt-and-peck typists, who need to scan the keyboard closely with each keystroke. When each keystroke means a look at the screen, back to the keyboard, and back to the screen, having the two in very close physical proximity can save time and a lot of frustration. • Buy a keyboard without tons of “multimedia” keys -- these simply present many easy-to-accidentally-click function keys which might unexpectedly launch the DVD player, open a web browser, or change the volume. Keyboards with fewer, harder-to-press keys are generally better -even though they may take more effort to press, you’ll get fewer accidental keystrokes. Ideally, you can get a slightly more expensive large-print keyboard. They are even made in garish, traffic-sign yellow, making them very easy to see. • Finally, if you’re going for the ideal set-up, consider purchasing an all-in-one touch-screen machine. It won’t obviate the need for a keyboard, but it will make mice/trackballs less necessary and make the whole user experience easier, especially once the overall interface is configured for the user, or when using software designed for seniors. For specific hardware references, see the hardware recommendations, attached, or visit an always-updated version at http://pawpawmail.com/about/config

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II.

Hardware Configuration (through software)

For the following, we will walk you through the steps we suggest. For specific directions on exactly how to implement these steps on your computer, please refer to the reference page that matches your operating system. Monitors: everything starts with screen resolution. If you have an old, bulky, tube-based (CRT) monitor, this isn’t as much of a concern. CRTs scan a beam of light across the screen to create an image, and they therefore can be set to many different resolutions without degradation in quality. But if you have an LCD (flat panel) monitor, this is critically important. LCDs have actual, physical dots/“pixels” which cannot change size. Though you may get bigger icons or bigger text immediately by setting your monitor to a resolution of 800x600, you’ll encounter many more problems. More on those in a minute. LCD

For an LCD monitor, check your screen’s “native” resolution. This will be expressed, generally, in the form “1024 x 768” (representing the screen rectangle of 1024 dots across by 768 dots high). The screen will most likely not tell you this. Look on the back of the screen for a model number and search for it on the web. It should be short-ish (i.e., not an 8+-digit serial number). A good search would include model, brand name, and the words “native resolution” (e.g., “Dell 2407WFP native resolution”). Review sites and Wikipedia are generally the most helpful for this.

For an LCD monitor, go ahead and set it to its native resolution. For a CRT, set it to something that looks comfortable -though generally not lower than 1024 x 768 (if you just want a number to use, we like 1280 x 1024 for seniors). In either case, don’t worry about the size of icons or text too much -- we’ll adjust those next. Resolution is important because it defines how much space the user has to work with, and too little will result in a great deal of scrolling around to figure out what’s going on. It’s important on an LCD monitor because if you set it for a non-native resolution, each dot of the image that the computer is trying to display will end up either bleeding over into the next dot (if you’ve set your resolution too low) or having to share a screen dot with another (if your resolution is too high). Either of these situations blurs or otherwise mangles the image, and this might not be immediately apparent until you have a headache from staring at a distorted view of the screen.

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CRT Monitor

Native Screen Pixel Image Pixel Original Image The first figure shows how the image would look if the resolution were decreased (i.e., a smaller image on the same size screen)

The resulting image as seen on screen:

Image with resolution set too low The second figure shows how the image would look if the resolution were increased (i.e., a larger image on the same size screen) The resulting image as seen on screen:

Image with resolution set too high

The most important GUI setting is text size. Users can adjust much more easily to a tiny icon, an ugly and washed out color scheme, and difficult-to-press on-screen controls than they can to an actual inability to read what the computer is telling them. There’s no single, universal setting for this, though computers are moving in that direction.

Large Fonts, Large Icons

You can set (on various systems, and with varying specificity) the sizes of the elements of your Graphical User Interface (“GUI”, or just “UI”). This may include icon size and type size on your desktop; the size of window bars, buttons, and scroll arrows; and the default type size on your browser. You can also set the color scheme to something easy to see -- higher contrast, perhaps, without being so loud that it’s blinding. Icons (and anything else) will be easier to see on the desktop if you set the desktop itself to be a muted, somewhat dark color -- neither black nor white -- and not a pattern, which turns the whole screen busy, confusing, and not just a bit ugly. As tempting as it may be, avoid setting the desktop to a picture of the grandkids -- an icon will almost certainly get lost in some location of that photo.

Standard Configuration

Now that the resolution is set, we’ll set the size of the things that display on the screen.

For now, you should be concerned with two settings: those for your file manager (a.k.a. “desktop”, “file explorer”, “finder”, “windows explorer”), and those for your web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome, or the like). Configure your file manager in your system’s control panel (a.k.a. “System Settings”), and configure your browser within the browser itself. These settings differ wildly (and widely) by browser, so check the reference pages following for directions on your machine. There’s not much to configure with the keyboard. We like to set the key repeat delay to the longest possible setting and the repeat rate very slow (reducing accidental keystrokes). Setting the text cursor blink rate high makes it more likely that the cursor will be noticed, thereby reinforcing the idea of “focus” that’s frequently a foreign initial concept. As a bonus, turn off any keyboard shortcuts that you possibly can -- the most insidious ones are those that attach to specific hardware drivers. For mice, the trick is to simplify them. You can always get a Macintosh mouse (they all have only one button, after all). But you can usually set the right-click button on a regular, cheap PC mouse to be inactive (or to perform a left-click). Of course, the senior may need a right-click at some point, but by that point, she probably won’t need this guide. By far the simplest thing you can do, though, is to get your senior a trackball. (mouse and trackball, right) Page 4

A kids’ trackball is great -- or one created for people with disabilities. Specialized trackballs are usually expensive, though, and a simple trackball will do nicely. Just make sure to use the software provided to disable all the extraneous buttons or to set those buttons to perform a left-click. Basic controls for individual operating systems are covered in our quick reference section, but many third-party mice include their own configuration software. In control panels, you should find a specific group of settings for your device, which may be listed under “Mouse” or “Trackball”, but will more likely be listed by brand name. The mouse pointer can be made huge on any system. In fact, this is handy for just about anyone, even without vision deficits. It makes the pointer much easier to find on a large screen, and it makes all the difference in the world when you demonstrate a task to someone else. After all, another person’s mouse is difficult to follow for anyone. Turning on pointer trails might make this even easier, but most people find this very annoying. Changing the pointer speed is a great way to make it easier to click on small targets. Setting a speed that would be excruciating to use in an office environment turns out to be just right for someone who uses a mouse infrequently -- they may not mind taking an extra two seconds to move the pointer across the screen, and that time will pay for itself when making finer-grained movements.

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Visual Guide to Computer Configuration: Windows XP NB: Before you change every setting under the sun, it may be helpful to set up another user under Windows XP. Log in as that user and then make changes with abandon, leaving the original user untouched. Or just jump right on in.

Display Settings Get to the Display Properties window either by right-clicking on the desktop (then select properties), or by opening Control Panels and selecting “Display”.

Desktop Background First, get rid of background pictures, patterns, etc., using the Desktop tab. Select background image “None”, then select a solid color. Ideally, you want something dark, calm, and unsaturated (we use the custom color 50 Red, 70 Green, 100 Blue, but pick whatever you’d like). This gets rid of visual distractions and keeps icons from getting lost in a busy area of a photo background.

Screen Resolution In the final tab, Settings, you’ll set your screen resolution. For a CRT display (bulky old TV look-alike), you’ll set it to something that feels comfortable: make sure to use at least 1024x768. 1280x1024 is a good compromise between having enough room and having big enough graphic elements. For an LCD display (flat panel), you should set it to its native resolution. 1280x1024 is the most likely for a normal-sized monitor, but look it up -- this will be worth your time. To find out more about the “native” resolution of an LCD display, see the introduction. Regardless of your monitor type, set color to the highest allowed by the resolution that you choose. Page 6

Visual Guide to Computer Configuration: Windows XP Window Appearance (Text Size, etc.)

For the Appearance tab, choose Extra Large Fonts. Most advanced configuration will be under the Effects... button or the Advanced button. Under “Effects”, enable “User large icons”, and enable “Show window contents while dragging” (this is slightly slower but less confusing). Everything else, salt to taste.

Advanced Settings (make everything large)

Advanced Settings is where everything happens. To make fonts really big everywhere on the system, not just in the menu bars and on the desktop, you should play around with all of these settings. You can generally set everything to 16 point type or so. One especially helpful setting is “Tooltip”. As you can see at the top right, the mouse pointer is over the Close/X button; as the user hovers, the word “Close” pops up in big letters. Here it’s set to 24, but there should be no problem setting it to 60+ so that the user can get a huge explanation when it’s needed.

Save it all as a “Theme”

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You’re done! Save it all as a new theme. This way, you can revert to a standard Windows XP theme and re-apply the Senior-ready settings with a single menu.

Visual Guide to Computer Configuration: Windows XP Keyboard Settings There’s not much to do here. If you have specific software that got installed with your keyboard, you may be able to use it to disable some of the keys that can cause accidental actions: namely the F1-F12 keys. Best is to get a very simple keyboard without all the internet and multimedia keys that manufacturers like to add but very few people use. Find more information in our product guide. To make keyboards less error-producing, the easiest fix is to make repeated key-presses less likely (what the computer normally does when the user presses and holds down a key). Do this by setting the key repeat delay to very long, and the key repeat rate to very slow.

Mouse Settings Of course, the best mouse isn’t a mouse at all. It’s a trackball. They’re much less confusing to people dealing with a pointing device for the first time. With the software included with many trackballs, you can disable all the extraneous buttons or set them all to simply click. Whatever pointing device you’re using, though, it will help if you set the pointer speed very low (though the lowest possible setting may be painfully slow even for a new user). Don’t worry about the other settings.

Finally, choose the pointer theme (on the “Pointers” tab) called “Windows Standard (extra large)”. This will use all the familiar cursors (pointer, hourglass, etc.), but they’ll be huge. You may love this setting for your own computer -- it makes the cursor significantly easier to pick out. Page 8

Visual Guide to Computer Configuration: Windows Vista

NB: Before you change every setting under the sun, it may be helpful to set up another user under Windows Vista. Log in as that user and then make changes with abandon, leaving the original user untouched. Or just jump right on in.

Windows Vista instructions are nearly identical to Windows XP instructions. Because of this, we will restrict Vista information primarily to the items which have changed in this version of Windows.

Keyboard and Mouse Settings Keyboard and mouse settings are nearly identical. Simply set speeds slow. Small pointer tails are nice for making the pointer stand out. See Windows XP configuration section for more information.

Display Settings As always, it’s critical to set your LCD screen to its native resolution. See the discussion above in both the introduction to this document and in Windows XP for more information.

DPI Scaling Windows Vista adds something very useful to your configuration toolbox: DPI Scaling. With a single change, you can alter all text and icon rendering for the whole operating system. By default, it’s set to 96 DPI; “Larger” is 120. Assuming that you have a reasonably large monitor, go ahead and set it even larger: use the “Custom DPI...” button at the bottom-right, and select 150% (144 DPI). This change will require a restart (Microsoft seems to have a fetish for these). Go ahead and apply the change, restart, and then tinker with the remaining settings. Find DPI scaling under the Personalization control panel, on the left bar (see below for more information about Personalization).

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Visual Guide to Computer Configuration: Windows Vista “Personalization”

“Personalization” is Microsoft’s latest way of taking a perfectly straightforward term (see XP, “Settings” under “Display”) and making it less understandable in an attempt to make it sound more like layperson-speak. To find all the Display Settings that you found under Windows XP, simply open the “Personalization” control panel. Though the DPI settings alone (see above) may be adequate, if you would like to alter your individual typeface settings, select “Window Color and Appearance”, then select “Open classic appearance properties for more color options”. This is, for some strange reason, where you find the options for changing your typefaces and font sizes. Once you’ve selected this, you’ll be back to the settings, nearly identical to Windows XP, for window titles, buttons, etc.

Windows Vista Themes

But hold the phone! Many people have already created Windows Vista themes which will make this job much easier. Be very careful with this, as this is a common scam for getting people to download spyware - so only download themes from a source you trust. We’ve made our very large theme available on our Configuration Guide site at http://pawpawmail.com/about/config/ As in XP, this is still an imperfect method for changing the user interface, because it necessitates the simultaneous change of so many settings. Read on for Browser configuration, which will likely be more relevant to everyday use than everything except your DPI settings.

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Visual Guide to Browser Configuration: Windows Browsers Internet Explorer

Configuring your operating system to display large text will not necessarily carry over into your web browser. To set any version (6.0-8.0, at least) of Internet Explorer to show a large typeface for browsing, select the “View” menu (you may have to hit the Alt key to get it to appear, depending on your settings), and then select menu item “Text Size”. Select the largest available. This will work for many web sites. However, some will either experience no effect at all from the change or will suddenly look poorly-designed. There’s a way around all of this on newer versions (don’t hesitate to upgrade): a “Zoom” function is always available, and it magnifies the whole web page: text and images. If you’re using a newer version, though, you may want to disable tabbed browsing (it can be confusing). Go to Tools -> Internet Options -> General -> Tabs -> Settings, and uncheck Tabbed Browsing. Internet Explorer, though not really inspiring, has one great advantage for seniors who use their computers only for the web (or only for a web application): Kiosk Mode. You can set up a desktop shortcut (or a startup item) to launch IE directly to a web page with the “-k” option. For instance, set your shortcut to (including quotes): "c:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -k "http://mail.pawpawmail.com"

Firefox First, upgrade your Firefox browser to the latest. Go to Help -> Check for Updates... It’s a bummer that Firefox doesn’t come out of the box with a single way to make text large. Firefox prefers the Zoom method. You can, in theory, set a default font, or define a default style for web pages. This will work poorly or infrequently. You can add Zoom buttons to the toolbar with an add-on (e.g., “Zoom Toolbar”). We haven’t come across an add-on which does a great job of remembering a default zoom for all pages. Let us know if there’s that one you like.

Other Browsers (Opera, Chrome, etc.) You’re not stuck with IE or Firefox. Opera is fantastically quick and crisp, and Chrome is nice and simple. But until either one comes out with features that absolutely compel their use, stick with IE or Firefox: there are just more people out there who will be able to troubleshoot these more common browsers if you run into trouble. Page 11

Visual Guide to Computer Configuration: Macintosh OS X NB: Before you change every setting under the sun, it may be helpful to set up another user under System Preferences > System > Accounts. Log in as that user and then make changes with abandon, leaving the original user untouched. Or just jump right on in. You may experience slight differences between Mac OS versions. For most aspects of this guide, anything 10.2 or greater should look substantially similar.

The Macintosh is a strange beast. It’s both the the simplest and the most difficult to configure. Its interface is well-suited for significant disabilities -- it’s light-years ahead of Windows -- but for simple tweaking, some features are conspicuously un-configurable. Because the Mac requires many separate settings to get our desired effect (make everything larger, remove extraneous stuff ), you’ll probably want to experiment, and it’s best to keep your active account clean of these tweaks so you can get back to normal settings quickly. Go ahead and set up an account as your first step (see “Parental Controls”, below, for instructions). Log onto that account, and we’ll tackle all the individual aspects of configuration.

User Interface Settings Screen Resolution The first thing to do is to make sure that the screen resolution is set to the native resolution of the screen if you have an LCD screen. Because of the tighter binding between software and hardware on the Mac, this will most likely already be set. If your screen has a blocky look to it, you may have changed this in the past in an attempt to make text larger. Please read above in the introduction to this document for information about native screen resolutions. If you’d like to make changes, find the screen at right by going to the “dock” at the bottom of the screen and select System Preferences > Hardware > Displays.

Keyboard Configuration There’s very little to do with the keyboard. Turning Key Repeat off is a good way to minimize mis-typing. If you’d like to keep repeating on, set the Repeat Rate to slow. Find Keyboard settings under System Preferences > Hardware > Keyboard and Mouse.

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Keyboard Shortcuts Continue to the Keyboard Shortcuts tab. Eliminating all but a very few keyboard shortcuts may help in eliminating unexpected actions. By default, uncheck everything. Leave only what you know will be used. You can always restore the defaults later.

Pointing device control As always, the best mouse isn’t a mouse at all. It’s a trackball (see product guide). They are much less confusing for anyone dealing with a pointing device for the first time. Whether you’re using a mouse, a trackball, or the trackpad attached to a laptop, though, it will help if you set the pointer speed very slow. Do the same with the scroll speed (for the scroll wheel if you have one) and the double-click speed. A trackpad presents the most difficulty for new users. In addition to being more confusing, it’s easy to activate it accidentally with the wrists while trying to type. To make it the most straightforward, disable clicking via tapping on the trackpad. And select both “ignore” boxes to minimize the chances of accidental input.

Cursor / Pointer Size The Universal Access pane under System Preferences provides some great advanced features for users with significant impairments; these are beyond the scope of this document. We’ll look only at the Mouse and Trackpad tab, which allows you to increase the size of the mouse cursor. You can set the cursor to such a large size that it’s almost impossible to miss.

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Finder Settings Unfortunately, Apple does not provide a simple way to change the overall system font. Because of this, you will likely be unsuccessful in changing the entire user interface to be large-type-friendly. Your best bet is to change how files are displayed in the Finder. (even better, just use the Dock! (see below)). “Finder” is the name of the Macintosh file explorer / file browser; it is always running, and it’s generally the first thing you see when starting up your Macintosh. Open up a new window in the Finder (File > New Window) and then open a familiar folder. Show the View Options (View > Show View Options) as seen at right. From here, you can set the icon size to enormous (128x128 - see the calculator at right), and you can set the text size to show in Finder windows (16pt is usually good). To get these settings to apply to other folders, when you’re finished, click “Use as Defaults”. We hesitate to recommend a third-party software application with which we are only somewhat familiar, but we have had some good luck in configuring the interface to a greater degree using TinkerTool. You get much more control over fonts, but unfortunately no control over the Menu Bar itself. Find out more at http://www.bresink. de/osx/TinkerTool.html We’ve had good but brief experiences with this, so of course use at your own risk.

Configuring the Dock

In System Preferences, select Personal > Dock. Set the dock icon size to be large enough to see but not so large that it takes up half the screen. It is sometimes helpful to place the Dock to the Left or Right on a smaller screen, or on one that has “widescreen” dimensions, as Macintosh screens are typically short in resolution. Maginification is helpful as an additional cue to what is currently selected.

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Parental Controls It’s a good idea in general to set up a new account and make the modifications to that account. This will leave your original account (the one you use for administering the system) untouched as you experiment. This holds especially true of Parental Controls, which necessitate some sacrifice of functionality in exchange for ease of use. Under System Preferences, select System > Users. Once you unlock (at bottom left) to make changes, you will be able to create a new account (use the “+” button) and then Enable Parental Controls for that account. Then click on “Open Parental Controls...” or go to the Parental Controls pane under System Preferences.

Notably, the Parental Controls, which can be set up on any new account, make the actual use of the computer much easier for the user. There’s a trade-off, however, in that the parental controls don’t just border on insulting. They step boldly over that line into a morass of restrictions which could be quite condescending toward a parent. However, used with a light touch (not, for instance, hiding profanity from the user’s dictionary or restricting his or her computer use to times before bedtime on school nights -- these are real examples), it’s a great single point of modification for making the user experience easier all around. And the restrictions may well be wanted -- if the computer is used for only one or two purposes, and simplicity is paramount, there may be a significant advantage in hiding unwanted web sites and applications. The “Simple Finder” (pictured at left) is the best part of this. The Simple Finder allows the user to launch programs with a single click, blissfully avoiding double-clicks, which are the bane of existence for anyone with even moderately diminished coordination. Try double-clicking with your elbow if it’s not immediately apparent how critical this is.

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Experiment with Parental Controls. Different users will have significantly different preferences regarding these simplifications. And remember that many Finder-related problems can be solved simply by using only the Dock, which you can fill with a limited range of applications.

Visual Guide to Browser Configuration: Macintosh Browsers Safari Safari is generally the easiest answer on the Macintosh. Though you won’t get perfect results just by changing the standard font, many sites will look much better this way. Here, we’ve changed both fonts to 24-point, which is quite large. To access Appearance, use the “Safari” menu, then select “Preferences...”. The second tab is “Appearance”. Under the Advanced tab, you can also change the minimum size font that is displayed, which will override the specific settings of any web page that you view. We’ve found that sizes in the 14-18 point range tend to avoid the smallest configurations while still preserving most of the overall layout.

Be careful, though, of choosing settings which are simply too large for the web page to be useable. Safari Zooms in much like Firefox (see above under Windows browsers), by increasing text size rather than enlarging the whole screen, producing similar effects to what you would see through these configurations. Setting any of these too large will result in a web page view like the one at right, so make sure that you check the results of your configuration on your favorite sites.

Other Browsers (Firefox, Opera, etc.) See above in Windows Browsers for more information on Firefox, which is a perfectly acceptable solution on the Mac. Opera has one overwhelming advantage: a real zoom, which simply increases the size of the entire page without changing formatting in any way.. However, it’s generally less of a beginner browser.

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Simplified Hardware Guide

Some hardware choices border on insulting: huge, bright keys and the like. However, more people are relieved than insulted at this easier-to-use hardware. We have tried many, but not all, of these products. Please let us know your personal favorites. All keyboards, mice, and trackballs mentioned below are USB-based, and therefore should work on any computer running Windows XP or later, or Mac OS X of any version.

Keyboards Look for keyboards without many unnecessary keys. Keys which are harder to press are generally better -- they reduce incorrect keystrokes. Keyboards are available both for the visually impaired (with larger letters on the keys) and for those with mild coordination deficits (larger keys). Apple makes a simple, basic keyboard in black and white. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB869LL/A Keys-U-See makes a standard-sized keyboard which is very, very bright, with big letters.

http://keys-u-see.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=YKB-LP-YUSB http://www.amazon.com/Keys-U-See-Keyboard-black-yellow-English/dp/B000IZGI76/

Crayola and SpongeBob make very simplified keyboards with large keys and bright colors.

http://www.crayolastore.com/product_detail.asp?HDR=&T1=CRA+11071 http://www.amazon.com/Crayola-11071-Keyboard/dp/B00167ZYMK http://www.megawatts.com/v1/index.php?action=view&pid=3030408



http://www.iltsource.com/Chester_Creek_Kinderboard_p/kb.htm http://www.sspdirect.com/large-key-keyboard-vision-board.html

Two more expensive but conservative-looking big-key beyboard options:

Finally, for the cheapest solution, check out big-letter stickers for the keys!

http://www.hooleon.com/menu-stickers-large.htm http://www.amazon.com/ENGLISH-LETTERING-KEYBOARD-STICKERS-TRANSPARENT/dp/B002FQ6BO6/

Trackballs Good and cheap, though far from fancy, is the basic Logitech trackball

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Optical-Marble-Mouse-USB/dp/B00005T406

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/trackballs/devices/4680&cl=us,en

Two editions of what seem to be the same super-simplified, huge trackball exist, though they are somewhat expensive and may not be in heavy production (long wait times at some distributors): the “Crayola Kids” and “BigTrack” trackballs

http://www.enablemart.com/Catalog/Trackballs-Joysticks/BIGtrack http://www.infogrip.com/product_view.asp?RecordNumber=98 http://www.enablemart.com/Catalog/Trackballs-Joysticks/KidTrac-Trackball

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Conclusion If you’ve had an experience configuring a computer for an older computer user, please share it with us -- we’d love feedback on hardware, software, etc. We would like for this to be a good, ongoing reference, and we’ll be sure to correct any problems you mention to us in our next edition. Any trademarks are the property of their obvious owners. All images contained in this document are either self-produced or are copied directly from the references provided. Use these tips at your own risk. They’ve worked for us, but the combinations of hardware, software, and users are far too numerous to test. This document was produced by PawPawMail.com (a simple e-mail service for seniors and their caregivers). Find out more about us in a recent New York Times article titled “Easier E-mail for the Older Generation”, which covers both PawPawMail and e-mail for seniors in general.: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/

easier-e-mail-for-the-older-generation/

The document may be freely distributed as is, unmodified and in its entirety. Please visit our site to get the latest version of this document, or to get more information on how to set up a computer for seniors: http://pawpawmail.com/about/config/ Thanks!

PawPawMail.com User Interface

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