Redesigning a website for older customers

If many of your customers are older adults, redesign your website around how they actually use it: larger text, dark type on a light background, your phone number at the top of every page, a short menu that is always visible, and nothing that moves on its own. Older customers are often careful readers who prefer to call, so the site's job is to give them confidence and an easy way to reach a person. None of this makes a site look old-fashioned. It makes it easier for everyone.

How older customers tend to use a website

Every customer is different, and plenty of people in their seventies are quicker online than their grandchildren. Still, owners of businesses with an older clientele, such as home care, hearing clinics, financial advisers, plumbers, pharmacies and churches, tend to notice the same habits:

They read the whole page. Many younger visitors skim. Older visitors often read every word, so the words carry more weight.
They prefer to call. A contact form feels uncertain: did it go through, will anyone answer? A phone number with a real name feels safer.
They use larger text settings. Many people turn up the text size on their phone or tablet. A site that ignores that setting, or breaks when it is used, shuts them out.
They use tablets. An iPad on the kitchen table is a common way to browse, and the site needs to work on it.
They are wary of scams. Pop-ups, countdown timers and pushy offers look like the phone scams they have been warned about.
They print things. Directions, price lists and checklists get printed and stuck on the fridge.

Design for those habits and the site works better for everyone else too.

Text: bigger, darker, plainer

Text is where most sites let older readers down.

Size. Body text should be comfortably large on a phone. Ask your designer to start body text at 18 pixels or more, rather than the small sizes many templates use. Headings can be larger still.
Contrast. Dark gray or black text on white or a very light background. Light gray text on white, which many modern templates love, is hard to read for anyone whose eyes have aged. Avoid text over photos unless there is a solid dark band behind it.
Fonts. A plain, sturdy font with clear letter shapes. No thin, decorative or all-capital styles for paragraphs.
Line length. On a computer, keep lines from stretching across the whole screen. Long lines make it easy to lose your place.
Let zoom work. The site should grow cleanly when someone pinches to zoom or turns up their text size. Ask your designer to confirm they have not switched zoom off.

The W3C's accessibility guidance has the official detail on contrast and text sizes if your designer wants a reference.

The phone number belongs at the top

For an older clientele, the phone number is often the most important thing on the page.

Put it at the top of every page, large, and as a tappable link on phones.
Write it in the usual US format, such as (614) 555-0123, rather than with dots or no spaces.
Say who answers and when: "Call Maria at the office, Monday to Friday, 8 to 5."
Repeat it at the bottom of long pages and on the contact page, with your hours right next to it.
If calls go to voicemail after hours, say so, and say when you call back.

A named person and stated hours turn "a number" into "someone I can talk to", which is exactly what a careful customer is looking for.

Menus and buttons that do not hide

Keep the menu short: five to seven items with plain names like "Services", "Prices", "About us", "Contact". Avoid clever labels.
Show the word "Menu" next to the three-line icon on phones. Not everyone knows what the three lines mean.
Large tap targets. Buttons and links big enough for a less steady finger, with space between them.
Underline links in text or make them clearly a different color, so it is obvious what can be tapped.
No hover-only menus. Drop-downs that appear only when a mouse rests over them do not work on a tablet.

Website menu: how to organize your navigation has more on choosing menu items.

Things to remove

Some common website features cause real trouble for older visitors:

Moving slideshows. Text that changes before you finish reading it is frustrating. Use one strong photo.
Pop-ups asking for email signups or showing offers. They cover the page and look like scams.
Autoplay video or sound.
Forms that ask for too much. Name, phone and a short message is enough. Avoid required fields for things they may not know.
Account sign-ups just to get a quote or see prices.
Tiny gray text in footers that hides important information like license numbers or addresses.

Building trust on the page

Older customers often want to know who they are dealing with before they pick up the phone.

A photo of the owner and the staff they will actually meet.
Your street address, if you have one, with a map.
How long you have been in business and any licenses or memberships, shown plainly.
Reviews with real first names and towns.
Clear prices or at least clear steps: what happens when they call, whether there is a charge for a visit, how they pay.

Writing a meet-the-owner section that builds trust covers how to write the personal part without it sounding like an advert.

Make pages easy to print

Directions, price lists, service checklists and preparation instructions get printed. Make sure the page prints cleanly, with the text and phone number visible and no giant menu or blank pages. A simple test: open the page on a computer, press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on a Mac), and look at the preview.

Your redesign checklist for older customers

Body text large enough to read on a phone without zooming.
Dark text on a light background everywhere, no light gray paragraphs.
Phone number at the top of every page, tappable, with who answers and when.
Menu of five to seven plain words, labeled "Menu" on phones.
No slideshows, pop-ups or autoplay.
A short contact form, and no account needed.
Owner and staff photos, address, licenses and reviews visible.
Pages print cleanly.
Tested by an older customer on their own device.

If your current site has the right information but is hard to read, a rebuild can keep your words and put them into a larger, clearer layout. You can see your site rebuilt first and hand the preview to an older customer to try before you decide.