e-Government and the Elderly: A Two Country Comparison

This paper first identifies characteristics of aging populations across two countries: the USA and Australia. Government web sites of special interest to the elderly are then identified at three levels of government: National, State and Local. A random sample of these sites is tested for readability. Results show that reading levels of web sites are harder than those recommended and that this design flaw occurs across all levels of government and between the two countries. It is argued that the simple mistake of making material too hard for the elderly to read inhibits the transformative ability of e-government for this citizen group with special needs.