ARE THE ELDERLY DISABLED AS WELL ?
When we think of disability, we usually generalize the term referring to the deaf, mute and blind. However, there is another shade to this term and by that I am referring to the elderly. These senior citizens aren’t physically challenged, but they face certain problems as they grow older, which act as obstacles for them, and keep them from carrying out their routine activities. For instance, a common routine activity like reading the morning newspaper becomes a challenge as their eyesight deteriorates. If these elderly people are provided with a tablet, they can easily enlarge the text just by spreading the fingers across the screen, it will help them get over the problems they face due to visual impairment. Even though we claim to have revolutionized the world with the help of accessible technology, in reality only forty percent of the people in the age group 65 and older are online. This clearly shows that there is a digital divide in the use of Internet among the older age group.
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This inaccessibility of the Internet for the elderly makes them feel even more cut off from the world than they already are. Specially, since now the Internet is being used for everything from interacting to the world digitally, to paying ones bills and managing the bank accounts online, to even ordering groceries. How long do we expect these senior citizens to look through yellow pages to find information, when the same things can be found on the Internet with just a few clicks? Even though the world is changing fast because of the continuous improvement in technology, the elderly are far from catching up. There is a need for a national effort by all the countries to make a change by getting hundred percent of the senior citizens online .
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