Internet applications will be adapted to ageing transformation,
our reporter Huang Xin
For a period of time, this newspaper has focused on the difficulty of using smart technology for the elderly, and successively published several investigative reports, calling attention to solve the "digital divide" that lays between the elderly and the mobile Internet era.
Following the announcement by the Central Bank recently that cash payments must not be excluded and discriminated against, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced on December 25 that it will launch a special action to solve the problem of elderly people using the Internet.
On December 25, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a press conference to effectively solve the difficulties of the elderly in the use of smart technology, and announced that from January 2021, a one-year "Internet application is suitable for aging and barrier-free Special actions for transformation".
The first batch of the special action will complete 115 public service websites and 43 mobile APPs suitable for aging and barrier-free transformation, covering relevant national ministries and provincial governments, organizations of persons with disabilities, news and information, transportation, financial services, social communications, Life shopping, search engines, travel, medical and health and other fields, including the most used banks, railway 12306, 114 health, WeChat, Alipay, JD, Douyin, Meituan, Ctrip Travel and other apps.
The special action will launch more products with features such as large fonts, large icons, and high-contrast text for the elderly; encourage more companies to introduce simple and easy-to-operate interface modes, realize one-key operation, text input prompts, etc. Barrier-free function; improve the ability of dialect recognition to facilitate the use of the device by the elderly who do not speak Mandarin.
For the visually impaired, promote the compatibility of websites and mobile apps with screen-reading software, solve the problems of "verification code" operation difficulties, unreadable button labels and picture information, and promote the design and development of intelligent blind guide devices.
For the hearing impaired, it is encouraged to add subtitles to the content information of Internet products to improve the compatibility with hearing aids and other devices, and to encourage enterprises to provide online customer service and other alternative service methods for telephone customer service.
For people with physical disabilities, guide websites and mobile apps to support custom gestures, simplify interactive operations, launch more Internet applications that meet the needs of physically disabled groups, and promote the development of intelligent rehabilitation aids, and guide self-service terminal equipment to facilitate the ride. Group operation of wheelchairs with physical disabilities.
"In view of the problem that there are many mandatory advertisements in the current Internet applications, which can easily mislead the elderly, the old version, care version, and barrier-free version of the website and mobile APP after the completion of the transformation will no longer have ad plug-ins, especially payment operations. There will be no inducing buttons for convenient and safe use by various special groups." said Liu Liehong, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
According to statistics, there are currently about 274 million elderly households using mobile phones in my country, of which about 134 million elderly households use smartphones to access the Internet.
This means that there may be nearly 140 million elderly people in the country who use mobile phones but do not go online and are "silent people" on the Internet.
Since the beginning of this year, focusing on the areas of high-frequency service matters involved in the daily lives of the elderly, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has accelerated its efforts to solve a number of the most urgent problems in the use of intelligent technology by the elderly, and has made positive progress.
Liu Liehong introduced, one is to realize one-click call-in customer service for the elderly.
In the future, people over 65 who call the customer service numbers of the three major telecom operators can directly access manual consultation services without having to go through complicated operations such as voice prompts and number selection.
The second is to realize the love channel service for the elderly.
All offline business halls of the three major telecommunications operators provide loving channels for the elderly. When the elderly enter the business halls, they will be guided by special personnel and provide "face-to-face" services, eliminating the need to wait in line.
The third is to basically realize the mobile phone "elderly mode" service.
The mainstream mobile phones in the market such as Huawei, Xiaomi, vivo, and OPPO basically have the functions of "elderly mode" and "elder mode", which can provide services such as large fonts, large volume playback, and "remote assistance", making it easy for the elderly to see and hear Clear and useful.
In addition, Internet companies such as Tencent, Baidu, Toutiao, and Didi have also launched a number of services and products suitable for aging, including one-click viewing, one-click alarming, opening payment for relatives and friends, and enhancing dialect recognition capabilities.
Internet companies with advantages in offline stores and personnel coverage, such as Lianjia (Shell) and Meituan, have taken the initiative to carry out community assistance programs to help the elderly in the community learn to use mobile phones and promote the popularization and application of smart technologies.
Liu Liehong said that during the special action period, the level of Internet accessibility will be continuously evaluated, and Internet websites and mobile apps that meet the requirements will be given information accessibility marks; those that do not meet the requirements will be guided and urged to improve in time.
Our reporter Huang Xin