#18442
The Internet today is a part of kids' natural environment. Most children have access to the Internet at school and/or at home. In 2000 there were 55,475,000 U.S. households with personal computers. 99 percent of public schools have access to the Internet. The number of Internet users worldwide is expected to grow to 300 million by 2005, from roughly 150 million currently, according to an estimate by IDC. The greatest growth will be in Asia and South America. The number of online users will rise 61 percent to 95 million in the US, more than double to 88 million in Europe and quadruple to 118 million in the rest of the world. NUA Internet Survey, on the other hand, estimated total number of people online to be 407.1 million in November 2000. In November 2000 almost 20 percent of all digital media users were children. A recent National School Boards Foundation telephone survey of 1,735 randomly-chosen households showed that children predominantly use Internet at home and in school. In a survey of 10,000 students aged 12 to 24, from 16 countries, Ipsos-Reid Group found Internet to be widely available to Swedish and Canadian students. 78 percent of students in Sweden and 74 percent in Canada are able to go online at school. 80 percent of Swedish children and 71 percent of Canadian students have web access at home. Taiwan ranked third, with 63 percent accessibility at school, followed by the UK, US, Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Brazil, and Urban China.
Demner, Dina. Universal Usability (2001). Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Children
#23289
Do Your Manuals Put Children in Danger? A Survey of Juvenile Products Consumers 
What can manufacturers do to improve the readability of manuals that accompany juvenile products?
Manual Labour (2003). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Children
#27529
Evaluating the Usability of Educational Websites for Children
This study examined the usability of educational websites for children. Children ages 7 - 11 performed seven search tasks with one of three websites. Overall, participants, especially those less than 10 years of age were not very successful. Terminology, number and organization of links, location of information above the fold, and length of individual pages all influenced performance on the tasks.
Naidu, Shivashankar. Usability News (2005). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Children
#19179
Human-Computer Interaction for Kids
How is designing computer software and hardware for kids different from designing for adults? At the time of this writing, little formal research has been done on this topic. Most research done to date has focused on designing educational software, and evaluation is primarily of learning outcomes, not usability. However, usability is a prerequisite for learning.
Bruckman, Amy and Alisa Bandlow. Georgia Institute of Technology (2002). Design>Usability>Accessibility>Children
#13559
Kids' Corner: Website Usability for Children
Our usability study of kids found that they are as easily stumped by confusing websites as adults. Unlike adults, however, kids tend to view ads as content, and click accordingly. They also like colorful designs, but demand simple text and navigation.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability>Children
#20523
Tips for Presenting to Young Audiences
It was my first year in business and I was 20-minutes into delivering a one-hour presentation skills seminar when it was becoming painfully clear that I was losing my audience fast. With this particular group, the early warning signs were all there. It started with some subtle multi-tasking activity followed by a pronounced loss of eye contact by a few individuals at first and then half the group. If you’ve ever had that experience you know that you only have a couple of options at that point. You can try to pump up the energy level and occasionally re-energize an audience; but, let’s face it, the odds are pretty slim. Or you can always start summarizing, cut your loses and go for a well-scripted close. At least there’s some hope that your audience will, at a minimum, hear a few crisp closing points and an interesting story to tie it all together. On that particular day, I didn’t have a chance to do either. The bell rang at precisely 11:22 and Cheryl Bailey’s third period PowerPoint class darted for the door and I was left standing there (unplugging my projector and laptop) wondering what the heck just happened. It was my first time presenting to a group of kids and since then I’ve had to revise my technique considerably for this unique audience.
Endicott, Jim. Presenters University (2003). Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric>Children
#27106
Usability Testing with Children
Usability testing with children can prevent some unique challenges - find out what exactly these are and what you need to do.
Fidgeon, Tim. Webcredible (2006). Design>Web Design>Usability>Children
#13330
Which Fonts Do Children Prefer to Read Online?
Children today are reading large amounts of text on computer screens, either in the classroom or for leisure. In fact, currently there is a drive to supplement or even replace some traditional pen and paper lectures and tests with computer-based ones. However, to date there has been no research specific to a younger population investigating preferences for different types and sizes of fonts for reading online. This study sought to address this need by examining four types of fonts at 12- and 14-point sizes in order to help determine the font combination that is perceived as most readable on computer screens and most preferred by children.
Bernard, Michael, Melissa Mills, Talissa Frank and Jan McKown. Usability News (2001). Design>Typography>Usability>Children
#20998
Writing Science for Children in an Age of Discovery
Writing a children's book is never easy. But the challenges are multiplied for children's books about science. It is all too common for the paramount importance of accuracy to conflict with the need to make a book enticing, or at least accessible.
Nagourney, Eric. New York Times, The (2003). Articles>Scientific Communication>Accessibility>Children
#32893
The following is what has been collectively pulled-through as the main points from Ella Tallyn's and Jon Pettigrew's respective presentations. These points should serve as introductory guidelines for UCD with children.
Demming, GiGi. Usability Professionals Association (2004). Presentations>User Centered Design>Accessibility>Children
#32894
Designing Usable Sites for Children and Teens
It is often difficult for an adult designer to accurately remember what it is like to be 10 years old, and so it is important to turn to research conducted with children and teens to get a sense of their preferences.
Content Matters (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Children
#32901
Guidelines for Usability Testing with Children
Although user-centered design is a well-supported concept in the literature on adult computer products, not until recently have publications begun to appear addressing the need to include the user in the design process of children’s computer products.
#32902
Interface Design for Children’s Searching and Browsing
Elementary-age children are among the largest user groups of computers and the Internet, so it is important to design searching and browsing tools that support them. However, many interfaces for children do not consider their skills and preferences. Children are capable of doing Boolean searches, but have difficulty with the sequential presentation of hierarchical structures used in many category browsers. Based on previous research, we believed a simultaneous presentation of a flat category structure might better support children. We conducted two studies of searching and browsing with these two types of category browsers. Our results suggest that a flat, simultaneous interface provides advantages for both Boolean searching and casual browsing. These results add to the understanding of children’s searching and browsing skills and preferences and suggest guidelines for other interface designers.
Hutchinson, Hilary Browne, Benjamin B. Bederson and Allison Druin. ACM SIGCHI (2005). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Children
#32903
Usability of Websites for Teenagers
When using websites, teenagers have a lower success rate than adults and they're also easily bored. To work for teens, websites must be simple -- but not childish -- and supply plenty of interactive features.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Children
#32904
Kids' Corner: Website Usability for Children
Our usability study of kids found that they are as easily stumped by confusing websites as adults. Unlike adults, however, kids tend to view ads as content, and click accordingly. They also like colorful designs, but demand simple text and navigation.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Children
#32905
This paper reports the results of scavenger-hunt usability tests conducted with 16 adolescent children (8 males and 8 females) in two age groups (12 years old and 16 years old), using two general-interest topical Web sites. The tests yield comparison data regarding both search performance and self-reported subjective preferences. The sole independent variable affecting search performance was the age of the subject, from which the authors conclude that children's domain knowledge may be a key component of their ability to retrieve information successfully from Web-based systems. Subjective preferences of children are systematically compared to previously reported preference data for adults who tested the same topical Web sites. Based on these data, as well as on insights based on subjects' verbal protocols, conclusions regarding both commonalities and differences in Web usability requirements between adults and children are suggested.
Sullivan, Terry, Cathleen Norris, Martha Peet and Elliot Soloway. Conference on Human Factors and the Web (2000). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Children
#34086
An interesting discussion on the potential of providing childcare facilities to coworkers – with the coworkers themselves dedicating a portion of their time to caring for the children of other community members.
Ali, Imran. Web Worker Daily (2008). Careers>Workplace>Coworking>Children
#34951
Spatial Descriptions by Children
Drawing a map is cognitively challenging. It requires you to do some abstract visualization.
Katre, Dinesh S. Journal of HCI Vistas (2007). Articles>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Children
