The elderly have enough trouble with technology and just handing them a tablet and saying good luck just does not work. So how do you make an Amazon Fire Tablet elderly friendly?
Thankfully Amazon has you covered and offers numerous options to increase the usability of your Fire tablet under Settings. Some settings you might want to adjust are listed below…
Adjust the Screen Brightness
On the home screen of your Fire tablet their should be a gear looking icon that says Settings.
Click it.
Scroll to Display.
Click it.
Brightness is at the top of the screen.
Click it.
Increase brightness with the slider.
Adjusting screen brightness can make it easier for the elderly to read text on the tablet.
Adjust Screen Text Size
On the home screen of your Fire tablet their should be a gear looking icon that says Settings.
Click it.
Scroll down to Accessibility.
Click it.
Scroll down to Vision Settings.
Click Font Size.
Adjust the size of the text upwards using the scroll bar at the bottom.
Adjusting text size increases readability in general across the tablet.
Adjust Icon Size
On the home screen of your Fire tablet their should be a gear looking icon that says Settings.
Click it.
Scroll down to Accessibility.
Click it.
Scroll down to Vision Settings.
Click Display Size.
Adjust the size of the icons upwards using the scroll bar at the bottom.
Adjusting the icon size makes it easier for the elderly to press the button they actually want to press.
Use an Easy to Remember Pin
When it comes to the elderly, you may have to sacrifice security for usability. It doesn’t matter if you have a strong password if the end user can’t remember it and use the tablet. They absolutely will set the Fire tablet on their dresser and never use it again if they can’t log in.
A strong password of course doesn’t matter in an environment where the elderly are alone such as in their own house. Who is going to break in to steal a $55 tablet? In a nursing home things may be different. Set the PIN to something easy to remember but DO NOT let them use their banking PIN. An example of an easy PIN is 4242. It repeats so they only have to remember two numbers. Not exactly as secure as it could be but again you may need to sacrifice some security for usability, depending on the person in your life.
Set Up Accounts for Them
Just go ahead and setup accounts for them and manage them yourself. Setup their own email and then link new accounts to that. Get them setup for Pinterest, Spotify, Audible, Kindle, etc. Again you may need to sacrifice security for usability. I’m just going to say you might want to do the thing you’re not supposed to do and write down their Pinterest password on a piece of paper. I highly recommend you only do this for accounts that don’t matter like Pinterest, Pandora, etc. It is a security risk nonetheless. Follow best practices and do not reuse passwords.
I should not need to say this but do not use their or your banking password or PIN.
Other Options
You have other accessibility options both under Display and Accessibility in the settings section of your Fire tablet. Adjust settings as necessary for the people in your life. It may take a couple of attempts to get the settings right but it’s worth it. Just the fact that they can use their Fire tablet to listen to books can be revolutionary for them. It’s also an easy way for them to engage with others, like through Pinterest.
Ultimately the elderly need some help every now and then and patience is key.