OPTIMIZING THE VISIBILITY OF DISPLAYS FOR OLDER OBSERVERS

Aging is associated with a variety of decremental visual changes, incl uding reductions in retinal illuminance, color discrimination, static and dynamic acuity, near focus, contrast sensitivity, smooth and sacca dic eye movements, visual field, visual search, and the ability to see in and recover from glare. Laboratory research, field studies, and se lf-report data all indicate that many older persons experience signifi cant difficulty in carrying out tasks that depend on these visual func tions. It is also increasingly clear that older observers' performance in finding, extracting, and using visual information can be enhanced significantly by designing ask environments to minimize the effects of visual deficits. Recent research indicates that optical simulation of visual loss and contrast sensitivity testing, used in conjunction wit h image processing, may be very powerful tools for designing displays for the elderly and others with diminished spatial vision. These devel opments are reviewed, and general guidelines for creating ergonomicall y correct visual task environments for older observers are offered.