RFID Cards: A New Deal for Elderly Accessibility

Elderly adults face two serious challenges bridging the digital divide. First, many suffer from physical or cognitive disabilities, which inhibit computer use. Second, the “traditional” personal computer interface constitutes a foreign and forbidding paradigm. Consequently, elderly adults are less likely to access the Internet, and this lack of accessibility denies them increased social contact and access to information. This paper presents the design of a tangible user interface (TUI) for an email client that is suited to the physical, neurological, and cognitive needs of elderly users. A review of the TUI literature identifies radio frequency identification (RFID) tagged cards, integrated with standard personal computers, as a viable alternative to the mouse. These cards can represent interaction objects and actions, forming the basis for an interaction language. The email client interaction design illustrates many simple and advanced RFID card interaction techniques.