By Jeannie Ben-Hain
Agelight.org's tagline is "Bridging the digital & generational
divides".
The site seems to be a resource for seniors who would like help in
getting online. The main method for aiding seniors is an internet
glossary to help them familiarize themselves with the web and its
jargon. There are links on the site which offer statistics on senior
web usage and marketing data on this age demographic. Another useful
area of the site has a guide for effective web site design for all
ages. This guide is pretty much the same as the one we read this past
week that is offered on Spry.org. The information provided on the
website is helpful for seniors, but otherwise the website is pretty
nondescript. It seems to me that the main push is for real world "Internet
Town Meetings" which are given weekly in different cities around
the US. These seem to be similar to the teaching sessions that Seniornet
provides to seniors to help them learn how to get online.
In terms of the web guidelines for a senior-friendly site, Agelight.org
comes through on some counts. The font appears to be at least 12 pt.
And it is black or blue writing on a white background, which provides
enough contrast. In addition, the text is often separated into readable
chunks with spacing. Some of the pages require scrolling, but much
of these pages are areas where information is dated and the most recent
text is at the top of the page. There are very few pictures on the
site and the graphics are minimal and all static. There is a Site
Map and a text-based menu on the side of each page to help provide
a guide through the site. There were some areas of the site that I
found one could get lost clicking on links, but the general topics
on the menu help lead you back to the right place.
For the most part, Agelight.org seems to be a source for information
for seniors online and about seniors online. I didn't find the information
to be too new and it didn't really help me to find out more about
what activities and interests seniors pursue online. As a resource
about Agelight's Town Meetings it was a good place to find dates and
times, but not really informative about what would be covered in these
sessions. All in all, I found that Seniornet provided much of the
same information in addition to providing a forum for seniors to congregate
on the web.