Internet has become extremely important for us. It is used by not just the students or by adults, babies use it (you know, YouTube videos to calm them) and even senior citizens have now gotten a taste for it. Once you get the taste for the internet, you can’t let it go. If you though seniors are naïve and dull who can’t use internet or smartphones, you have another thing coming missy! It has been reported that more than 49 % elders use Facebook and around 65 % of senior citizens use internet at least once daily.
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Now the sleek, elegant and very slim designs of smartphones and tablets are all good, for youngsters. Senior citizens however, need something more. Fortunately many smartphone companies have caught on to this issue and have started developing models keeping senior citizens in mind. A wide range of features have been added to assist the elderly to take full advantage of the internet.
[BUTTONS2]Following is a list of a few amazing features that your nana might like.
1. Modifiable and Built in Magnifiers:
Many seniors need assistance with eyesight. It is common that with age, you can have a slight vision problem. Now it is a major factor that is usually why seniors refrain from using internet and smartphones is that reading is a proper struggle. It can even get quite frustrating. Some elders are very comfortable with using desktop computers or even laptops. However, the phone or tablet screen is not even half the size of the computer. Which makes using a phone all the more overwhelming. Thankfully, there is now built in magnifier in many cell phones. These are even adjustable, so you can make the screen as big as you like. New smartphones allow elders to increase the text size by just using two fingers.
2. Voice Activation:
This is by far the coolest thing to have added to the smartphones. This is used by not just elders but young people make use of it too. Voice activated features have been introduced by many companies and has a lot of advantages for the elderly and is gaining popularity by each passing day. This features lets the user to accomplish a variety of work and other tasks whether on the phone or otherwise, without having to fiddle with the buttons on the device or small print on the smartphone.
This can be used to order items online, answer calls, check the weather and much more. This even helps senior citizens to dictate and send emails and text messages, ask questions from google, set alarms and reminders for medication etc.
3. Visible and Large Icons
Most phones have small display, meaning, there are a variety of apps on your cell phone that are displayed through small images on the home screen of the smartphone or even tablets. Now if these icons are small, it is hard for senior citizens to spot the app they are looking for. They might not be able to recognize it. This might discourage them from using the app altogether. These new features have added larger senior friendly icons to help them use smartphones confidently.
4. Makes Them Feel In Charge:
There was a time when the people in old homes, were needed. Others depended upon them for some work nobody else could do. Especially their kids, there was a time that their son or daughter needed them. As age increases they could not do everything that they once could. Having to depend on their children or others for basic needs sometimes takes a toll on their self-esteem. Using these smartphones that makes them in charge of their own lives such as scheduling an appointment, sending out an email or text, making a call, reminder of taking their medicine makes them feel useful and more connected to their loved ones. What could be more important than an elder person’s happiness or mental well-being?
These features are present you just need to find the right one phone or tablet. It could make for a great gift to you grandparents or parents. Make them feel wanted.