I’ve seen some discussions recently about devices that work well for parents elders, and those who are less technically inclined or motivated.
I wanted to start a thread to learn more about what has worked for your family, what has worked for your community?
What hardware and software combinations are affording access to computing, without the high overhead of running an enterprise.
We tried a computer. We wanted to get them a computer for a while since they are a major part of our lives, so we did (a used Dell Optiplex 3060). We made a collection of their pictures from digital cameras and old phones. Made sure solitaire had a desktop shortcut. Basic windows (so other people know how to use it when they’re visiting). No internet. It just didn’t get used, so we took it back during the move.
For phones, I tried going through Android accessibility options, but none of them reduced the complexity of a smartphone to a simple enough level for use without problems (oops they swiped to a screen and don’t remember there’s a button they can hit to go back, it’s rough). We got rid of all the app icons except for phone and contacts. As few screens as possible. It worked. Side buttons were an issue, they’d turn the volume all the way down. It was an older phone and the battery was starting to go. It was good enough, but given the battery issues we upgraded to the better option (forgetting to charge it was becoming a problem, and sometimes they would go a couple days without making a call because they managed to get lost in the phone somewhere).
iPhone has ‘Assistive Access’, which reduced the phone to just a phone. Beautiful. It also has some customizability for different levels of ‘just a phone’, but the most basic was what we needed. You can disable side buttons. Chefs kiss. They were a problem. I can’t set it to auto turn on speaker phone in a call, which is a minor drawback since they can’t hear without speakerphone (iphone can do it outside of assistive access, but not in it, and it doesn’t carry over [some options do], i tried). They’ve managed to make do turning speakerphone on themselves. Some of the prompting is… a bit excessive? Not really, and I can see why it’s there, but as someone who uses a phone without problems it can seem a bit extra (extra screen clicks to do specific actions like hanging up or calling someone, the button moves each time to make sure it’s intentional, etc.). Connectivity was an issue. I think it defaults to failing to connect a call if it has low signal, instead of dropping a call in the middle of it (probably to avoid a confusing interaction), this wasn’t great since they were living in the boonies, in a house that I’m pretty sure the wiring was making it a Farraday cage or something, the signal was terrible (so was the wiring). We had to wait until we moved them into the city to get them using the iphone. The adjustment period was better than expected (about a month to get used to the extra clicks, and some quality of life tweaks). It’s currently working.
We tried a flip phone. We tried a flip phone a few different times. Similar issues each time. Flip phone availability where I am is… not stellar (not a lot of options). Buttons sizes were an issue (they couldn’t hit just one button, but they didn’t like the ‘old people phone with the giant buttons’). Side buttons were an issue (they couldn’t hold the phone to their ear without squeezing buttons). Text size, screen size, volume, etc. Issues galore. There was no customizability in turning off buttons or anything like that. It had a hard time connecting via bluetooth to some vehicles (which was the final straw, since they’ll talk on the phone driving one way or another). Overall it was a pretty awful experience.
TV’s are the current nightmare. Popups. Unlabeled remotes. A lack of customizability (the TV is labelled PC and the TV label is for the antenna, and we can’t change it to make sense, which has been an issue). We’ve done what we can within the limits of the TV’s OS to streamline things as much as possible but it is not great. We made them a simple manual (with pictures) for how to switch back and forth to DVD’s. This is specifically a Samsung Smart TV. It would be lovely if there was a TV that you turned on and it was just TV (like it was in the 90’s), with all the channels an old person could want. A simple TV to go with a simple phone. Maybe apple TV has Assistive Access? I haven’t looked, and given the cost I probably won’t. We’re looking at getting them an entirely second TV, just so they can leave one on TV and one on DVD. A practical solution.
They go to the bank to pay their bills at the teller. They get their news from the TV (they used to like the physical paper but the print is too small). If they could have a corded phone on the wall, they would. They’ve managed to circle back around to being secure just by not using a computer at all. And we’re there for them when a computer is necessary.