Age-Related Deficits and Their Effects on Reading

Older readers are more affected by suboptimal designs of typefaces, are more easily distracted by irrelevant elements in the text, are more sensitive to low contrast between foreground and background, and have greater difficulty tuning into a specific typeface style. With growing age, some level of cognitive decrease often follows, which is associated with a decline in processing speed and a general deficit in cognitive flexibility.
In addition, many elderly people suffer from some form of visual impairment.
In spite of the growing number of older citizens, and in spite of the fact that many of the reading-related deficits can be met through the right setting of typography, these issues are rarely considered in design. This presentation will show new scientific findings on the legibility of typefaces for elderly readers and will suggest ways of improving visual acuity for this target group