Seoul City Develops 'Digital Accessibility Standards for the Elderly' to Make Apps and Videos Easier for Seniors

‘Mobile App’ and ‘Video Content’ Total 20 Compliance Requirements Presented
Pilot Application on ‘Yongsan Senior Welfare Center’ Website by August, Then Expansion to Civil Services Frequently Used by Elderly

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Digital Foundation announced on the 29th that it has developed a 'Senior-Friendly Digital Accessibility Standard' that can be applied to smartphone apps, mobile web, and video content.

This senior-friendly digital accessibility standard was created to ensure that digital content reflects the physical, cognitive, and psychological characteristics of the elderly, amid the increasing use of digital-based non-face-to-face services and web content. It is a fundamental measure to address the digital exclusion and gap issues faced by the elderly.

In the 'mobile web and app' sector, ten requirements to consider when developing and providing apps or mobile homepage services running on smartphones were presented. The font size should be at least 14 points, and the use of complex fonts such as cursive or italic styles should be avoided. These guidelines reflect the physical characteristics of elderly people who have difficulty reading small or slanted letters due to deteriorating eyesight. Since seniors may find new slang or administrative terms unfamiliar, universally understandable terms that anyone can easily comprehend should be used.

In the 'video content' sector, ten compliance requirements were presented to reduce discomfort while watching videos, including subtitle size and speed, and speaking speed. Moving subtitles should remain on the screen for at least 5 seconds until the first letter disappears, allowing sufficient time to read. The speaker's speaking speed in the video should be slow, about 4 syllables per second. Especially since elderly people may find it difficult to immediately understand new information, repeated explanations or summaries of important or complex content are essential.

The Seoul Digital Foundation will pilot and apply the newly developed senior-friendly digital accessibility standard on the 'Yongsan Senior Welfare Center' website from April to August. Afterwards, it plans to gradually expand the application scope to major civil service services in Seoul frequently used by the elderly. The standard for the 'kiosk' sector will also be additionally developed and completed in the second half of the year.

Lee Won-mok, Acting Chairman of the Seoul Digital Foundation, said, "As shown in previous survey results, building a digital environment that considers the convenience of elderly users is the practical solution to reducing the digital divide," and added, "We hope that the standards developed to meet the perspective of the elderly will be well applied everywhere to alleviate their inconveniences."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.