An investigation into Older People's Browsing Activities

This paper presents quantitative data on browsing activities with 63 respondents aged 55 years old and over from three countries. The questionnaire explored frequently browsed topics, browser's functions used, browsing tasks performed, problems with standard browsers and features to add to a standard browser to make it more ageing-friendly. The study revealed various aspects of Internet uses, including the topics accessed and places of access, browsing tasks, problems and assistive features required. This study makes several contributions to the field. First, it provides comprehensive account of older persons’ browsing activities. Second, it uses Exploratory Factor Analysis to unravel the underlying factors beneath older persons’ browsing tasks. Finally, this is a cross-country study, which arguably makes the findings less susceptible to cultural bias.