How Accessible Design Improves Usability for Elderly Cleaning Staff

What Is Information Accessibility?

The term “Information Accessibility” was first introduced by Professor E. Swanson of the University of California in 1992. It is defined as the ability of any person—whether able‑bodied or disabled, young or old—to obtain and use information equally, conveniently, and without barriers.

Why Implement Accessible Design?

Applying accessible design expands the range of usage scenarios, enhances overall user experience, and improves the product’s ease of use and practicality, especially for users with diverse abilities.

Identified Barriers for Cleaning Staff

Research showed that many cleaning staff (referred to as “aunties”) are older, have lower education levels, and rarely use smart devices. They face difficulties with standard app operations, especially in outdoor work environments. Observations and in‑depth interviews revealed four main obstacles: information‑retrieval difficulty, gesture‑operation difficulty, interface‑understanding difficulty, and emotional frustration.

Planned Design Solutions

Font Size

Tests indicated that the most satisfactory design factor for the aunties was the largest visible text. Considering age‑related vision decline and outdoor lighting, a font size of 16 px (equivalent to a character height of 4.2–5.7 mm at a typical viewing distance of 30–40 cm) was chosen as the optimal baseline.

Adjustable Font Size Feature

A “walking mode” was added, allowing users to increase text size while moving. Based on research from ReX Design, reading size while walking should be about 1.17 times the normal size.

Color Contrast

Following WCAG 2.0/2.1 guidelines, color schemes with a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 (AA level) were applied, with important text aiming for AAA contrast. High‑contrast colors help aunties see information clearly in outdoor lighting conditions.

Clear Icon Design

Simple, high‑contrast icons were created to match real‑world cognition (e.g., red = stop, green = go). Icons are paired with text labels to reduce learning cost.

Information Simplification

Redundant information was removed to reduce visual clutter and distraction, improving page recognizability.

Feedback and Incentives

Multimodal functions such as voice prompts were introduced to lower error rates during critical operations. Additional incentive mechanisms—badges, levels, emotional monthly reports—were added to strengthen user engagement and honor.

Visual References