Making software accessible to people with severe memory deficits

Good interface design must take into account limits on the users’ short-term memory. With conditions such as dementia, the working (short-term) memory can be so impaired as to be virtually non-operative. This present a significant challenge in designing interactive systems for people with this condition. If the difficulties can be overcome, however, such systems offer the possibility of improving the communication abilities of people with dementia, and eventually providing them with satisfying activities that can carry out unaided. We report on a project that has developed a hypermedia based reminiscence aid for older people with dementia, which been designed to be usable by people with short-term memory deficits. The system has proved remarkably effective in supporting the communication of people with dementia.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Norman Alm

Richard Dye

Arlene Astell

Maggie Ellis

Gary Gowans

Jim Campbell

Conference

Publication date: August 2005

Publication date (Print): August 2005

Pages: 1-7

Affiliations

[0001]Division of Applied Computing, University of Dundee, DD1 4HN, Scotland

[0002]School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, KY16 9JU, Scotland

[0003]Department of Computer-Aided Design

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 4HT, Scotland

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/AD2005.16

SO-VID: a6fbbce2-fab7-4256-9c37-be62d4752546

Copyright statement: © Norman Alm et al. Published by BCS Learning and Development Ltd. Accessible Design in the Digital World Conference 2005, Dundee, Scotland

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Accessible Design in the Digital World Conference 2005

Conference acronym: AD

Conference number:

Conference location: Dundee, Scotland

Conference date: 23-25 August 2005

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Accessible Design in the Digital World Conference

Product

Product Information: 1477-9358BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/AD2005.16

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

Making software accessible to people with severe memory deficits

Abstract