Accessibility & Inclusion

Bringing IT Literacy Programmes to Communities of Older People

By Gill Adams, Digital Unite

In general, what doesn't happen - and what causes projects to fail - is that people have a good idea 'to do something with computing' and then fail to think carefully about what will make people want to use a computer. It's common, too, to fail to include the user-group in decision-making and make it a 'done-to' project rather than a 'done-with'. No surprise then, when users fail to make best use of equipment and get labelled as 'apathetic'. The national IT learning provider, Digital Unite (formerly Hairnet), has some creative ideas, born of experience, to counteract this syndrome. Gill Adams of Digital Unite reports:

There have been some heroic failures in the nation's laudable attempts to 'get people who aren't interested in computers, to use computers'.

A prime example, in Hairnet's experience, was the one where a housing association set up an activity centre, equipped a cybercafe with state of the art equipment, and then waited patiently for people from the nearby sheltered accommodation and others to start using the computers.

They waited and waited. But, unfortunately, their costings had included nothing to pay anyone to manage the project, provide publicity or offer induction or training sessions ('we thought maybe volunteers would do it').

In addition members of the community hadn't asked for the facility anyway and had no awareness of what computers could do for them.

The satisfaction of having 'told them so' was fleeting; we felt it was a shame - and also gives communities, particularly of older people, a bad name. They quickly become labelled as apathetic or hostile or Luddite even. People even assume that you 'can't teach older people about computers - they just don't get it'. We beg to differ. Of course you can't teach everyone, and not everyone wants to learn, but age isn't what stops people learning about computers. (Hairnet's first-ever Silver Surfer of the Year, a national competition backed by NIACE, the lifelong learning charity, was 86, and we have learners as old as 96).

The big obstacle is the absence of other people - someone to explain and demonstrate how computers can enhance and enable and simplify your life. This is why Hairnet has majored on recruitment and maintenance of a national cohort of IT trainers who are now famous for their ability to teach in an empathic, learner-centred way, at a pace and place that suits the learner. On top of a lack of realisation that real-live guides to cyberspace are needed, is the fact that some managers themselves find technology daunting, and so give it a bad name, set a culture of suspicion, and that's tough to counter.

Not difficult

The truth is, once these obstacles are acknowledged, it's actually not difficult to bring successful IT literacy programmes into communities of any sort. But you do have to go about it in the right way.

Hairnet has been bringing IT literacy projects into various types of communities - most notably sheltered housing communities - for some years now and with great success. By definition, if you're talking about introducing IT literacy to a community, then you're talking about a group of individuals that, on the whole, are less likely than others to have access by other means (i.e. work, school, college, home).

You can say that many people in such communities will be beginners and they may have some fears/reluctance around technology. There's a good chance that some will have some kind of disability or learning difficulty - because a good percentage of the general population do. And, happily - and to all our advantage - we can no longer ignore the needs of people who are 'differently abled'.

Although it's surprisingly easy to convince ourselves that it would be 'easier to tackle those people another day or after we've finished the pilot project!' (How would that attitude make you feel if you were partially sighted, or a wheelchair user - particularly if you happened to know that a computer would be of immense practical use to you, more so than anyone able bodied?).

Anyway, we're getting better at 'getting over ourselves' about that one and the technology helps:

• a large trackball mouse copes with most major problems with mouse manipulation (arthritis, tremors);
• standard Windows screen magnification can cope with many problems of visual impairment;
• specifying a standard CRT large screen instead of a flat-screen helps general accessibility and ease of use;
• if needed, special screen readers such as JAWS and Dolphin can be used to read out what is on the screen, while voice recognition software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking allows the user to control the computer with spoken commands and to dictate text

For more details, see Abilitynet.

So, if age isn't the great problem, why focus in on older people, you might say? Why has Hairnet Computer and Internet Training historically focused in on the IT literacy needs of older people?

We believe that access to and choice about IT should be the right of all people, irrespective of age. We believe that not enough energy and money is devoted by those with most to gain from the IT literacy of older people (i.e. those areas of government concerned with e-delivery and take-up of services) to making sure that older people's special circumstances are attended to (i.e. they don't learn at work or at school). Additionally, if you design for older people then you design well. For example:

• Using jargon-free plain English is part of good design and ithelps people of any age who have never encountered digital technologybefore.
• Bearing in mind that any group of learners comeswith a smattering of disability (there's a statistical likelihood inany age group that increases with the age of the group), then you needto be prepared to encounter anything from extreme lack of confidence topeople being blind or deaf, or having severe mobility problems.
• Olderpeople are more likely to have had their formal education curtailed(for whatever reason), but pay attention to any assumptions that trotinto your mind following this, as older people have all had a lot moreexperiential learning than their younger colleagues, simply by livinglife and holding down jobs. You will also find, if you ask, that someolder people have degrees and doctorates that even they have forgottento mention!

A further reason to focus on older people is simply because of their qualities as community-makers/enablers. Older people are the core and heart of any community - if they're left out of digital communication loops, we all suffer.

The trick

So, the trick is to show how your communications media help to mirror and enhance existing community…

and just make living, and living together with other people, a little easier. Older people tend to have better community links than others so they can accommodate community learning more readily. They're usually quite settled geographically and have had years to develop their contacts.

Once demonstrated, people in sheltered communities are quick to see how an Internet communication tool, such as Digital Unite, the one used by Hairnet trainers in these settings can enhance the community that already exists. Digital Unite (which is a programme that can be purchased by communities and includes trainer-time as well as use of the software) shows instantly how community groups can develop a common voice, particularly in relation to their landlord but also to each other, and also allow those voices that aren't normally well heard in ordinary group meetings, to have a platform.

Other groups can use Digital Unite programmes effectively, too - people with school-age families are relatively static and gathered around one building, the school; then there are people in supported accommodation, brought together by some special need. For example, perhaps ex-offenders, young people moving out of care situations, people with disabilities.

You can also have affinity groups of other sorts - for example Hairnet is working with people with dementia through the Alzheimer's Society. The message really is that anything that 'groups' people in real space, gives an opportunity for community IT learning.

For more on this issue see also the knowledgebase article Making Community Approaches to IT Literacy for Older People Work.

Hairnet is an Internet and computer training company that works nationally and locally. We are experienced at facilitating IT project ownership and mediating allocation of tasks and responsibility with tenants and staff at sheltered schemes.

Digital Unite Programmes make sure that learners see the relevance of their skills from the moment they embark - by giving them a space and place for their 'voice' to be heard.