Source: Rule of Law Daily
Uncle Li, who is nearly seventy years old, has made a mistake because he recently bought a new smart phone: the new mobile phone can set the "elderly mode", the font size on the screen has become larger, and it seems that the eyes are relaxed a lot, but a lot of apps on the screen make him confused, which are the ones he will use, and what traps may be hidden in the apps that he wants to use?
In the face of smart phones, there are still many elderly people who are confused like Uncle Li. According to the 48th Statistical Report on the Development of China's Internet Network, the number of middle-aged and elderly netizens grew the fastest, and as of June this year, 28% of netizens aged 50 and above were registered.
In order to effectively solve the problem of "adapting to aging" on the Internet, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued relevant notices on many occasions, requiring effective solutions to the difficulties of the elderly in using intelligent technology, facilitating the use of intelligent products and services by the elderly, and creating convenient conditions for middle-aged and elderly netizens to integrate into Internet life and share Internet dividends.
Under the guidance of policies, many mobile phone manufacturers, Apps, etc. have launched the "elderly model". How effective is this model actually being used, and is it meeting the needs of the elderly population? With these questions in mind, a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily conducted an investigative interview.
Font size icon becomes larger and is loved by the elderly
Uncle Sun, who lives in Shanghai, has been using the elderly machine for five or six years, and just got a grandson last year, the old man was very happy, always clamoring to visit his grandson in other places, but it was inconvenient to travel due to the epidemic. What to do? His daughter thought of a way for him to video call twice a week.
In order to see his grandson, Uncle Sun gave up the old man's machine without video function and went to the mobile phone store to buy a smart phone. "Uncle you see, set up a care mode for you, now the font size on the screen is much larger, can you see it clearly?" The salesman lovingly helped him set the phone to "care mode" and told him which software was in which folder.
The so-called "care mode" refers to the "elderly mode" launched by mobile phone manufacturers, also known as "concise mode", and the mobile phone will automatically optimize and adapt to the needs of the elderly after opening this mode. For example, the interface on the phone screen will be more concise; app searching will be more straightforward.
In June this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued three standards: "Technical Requirements for Adaptive Aging of Mobile Terminals", "Test Methods for Adaptability of Aging of Mobile Terminals", and "Technical Requirements for The Aging Design of Smart TVs", focusing on solving various difficulties encountered by the elderly in the process of using smart terminal products such as mobile phones and tablet computers. For example, large fonts, large icons, and high-contrast text that are easy for the elderly with weakened vision function to view, as well as audio control systems that are convenient for the elderly with weakened hearing to use.
After using the smart phone for a period of time in the "aging mode", Uncle Sun found that "this phone is very smart, I have seen several drama articles, and I often push relevant content for me."
Reporters recently in Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu randomly interviewed a number of elderly people, they all reflected that the previous elderly machine can only be used to answer the phone, but now they have video calls and browse short videos and other needs, smart phones can set the "elderly mode", both to meet their needs for the use of intelligent products, but also to make them "not too tired to accept.".
"Under the 'elderly mode', the font size and icon have become larger, and the interface is simple and easy for the elderly to find, uninstalling and adding applications is more convenient, and the content pushed is generally loved by the elderly." Uncle Sun praised.
Ads are not blocked Dialects are not recognized
However, although the "elderly model" has brought many conveniences to the elderly group, some elderly people still encounter many difficulties in the process of use.
Uncle Li clearly remembers that when he bought a mobile phone, the salesman told him that he "can talk to wake up the intelligent voice, and if you want to find any software to talk directly to the mobile phone." But this feature has now become a blockage in Uncle Li's heart: he likes to try new things, often tries to use the voice function, but almost once succeeds.
"Later, the salesman told me that because I didn't speak standard Mandarin, I couldn't turn on the voice function if my smartphone couldn't recognize it." Uncle Li felt angry and funny, "Aren't smartphones so unintelligent?" ”
In addition, Uncle Li found that the number of non-essential apps bundled on mobile phones is too much, and these apps publish various reminder messages in the notification bar every day, "the notification bar is occupied, and many times it is difficult to distinguish which is the real and useful information."
Also worried about a bunch of apps on the mobile phone screen is Aunt Li, who lives in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Not long ago, her daughter bought her a smart phone and adjusted it to "old age mode", and before she was happy for a few days, she encountered a problem - this App does not know how to use, the App does not know what it is for, and it is very inconvenient to use.
"The kids said they were going to video call me, so they bought a new phone. As a result, the screen is full of small red dots (the app is not reading information), and I don't know what it is for. Aunt Li said.
The reporter opened the "elderly mode" in different mobile phones to experience and found that some mobile phones only sorted the App according to the pinyin initials, and the interface was messy; in the phone call, some mobile phone manufacturers did not have shortcut dialing options, nor could they enter numbers through the dialing interface for rapid retrieval; in the process of intelligent voice, some mobile phones could not open the health code, some mobile phones could not call phone numbers; and some spam information or advertising information could not be blocked in time.
Uncle Li mentioned the intelligent speech recognition problem, in the interview, there are also experts proposed, from the current design of the smart phone itself, intelligent speech for dialect recognition is not a good performance, many elderly people can not use Mandarin well, in the language of the dialect input deviation is the problem that various mobile phone manufacturers have not been able to solve.
Aside from smartphones, how does the app's "elderly mode" perform?
The reporter downloaded the App that is currently used more by the elderly, opened its "elderly mode" and found that although some Apps have become larger and the interface has become concise, they have not resisted the "temptation of money", and the App is still full of advertisements such as doing tasks and receiving cash, and it is easy for the elderly to click into or download accidentally.
Combined with the needs of the elderly to optimize the "suitable for aging"
In fact, in order to solve the difficulties encountered by special groups such as the elderly in using intelligent technologies such as the Internet, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will carry out a one-year "Special Action on Ageing and Barrier-free Transformation of Internet Applications" from January 2021.
In order to actively respond to national policies, some apps have been explored. For example, some short video platforms mainly optimize "suitable for aging" from the aspects of product design, content construction and user services, giving priority to solving the problem of elderly users who cannot see clearly and will not use them; at the same time, upgrading time reminder and management functions to help elderly users manage time; in terms of content security, strengthen the review standards for old-related content, improve the level of potential risk private message early warning response, severely crack down on illegal advertising, and strive to create a safe content environment for elderly users; some platforms start from convenience, in addition to making the font size larger, It also increases the brightness contrast value of text and icon colors with the background, increases the click response area of buttons and text connections...
Previously, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology introduced that to help the elderly group better use intelligent technology and application, the key is to solve the problems of "poor use", "few choices" and "no use" of Internet applications.
Experts interviewed by reporters also agreed that the "ageing" optimization of the application App can not only improve the feelings of the elderly in visual effects, but also start from the actual needs of the elderly and prescribe the right medicine.
Zheng Ning, director of the Law Department of the School of Cultural Industry Management of the Communication University of China, suggested: First, the government, Internet companies, communities, etc. should educate and train the "elderly model" of how the elderly use smart devices safely and quickly; second, under the guidance of the government, the major platforms should jointly establish an ecological network of interconnection and interconnection of the "elderly model" to facilitate the lives of the elderly; third, enterprises should earnestly fulfill their platform responsibilities and continuously improve the "elderly model" to adapt to the physical and mental characteristics of the elderly.
"The 'elderly model' should not only focus on the model itself, but also on its content, operation mode, programming code, etc." The elderly model does not mean to eliminate all advertising, but to have services that are beneficial to the elderly and to improve and enhance the function. Wang Sixin, a professor at the Communication University of China, said.