U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

NIHSeniorHealth ~ A Talking Web

Simon LiuDirector, Information SystemsNational Library of Medicine

June 4, 2004

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

Agenda

• NIHSeniorHealth- A Service to Seniors

• Visual Impairment Problems

• NIH/NLM Approach

• Technical Challenges

• User Experience

• Next Steps

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

NIHSeniorHealth – A Service to Seniors

•Consistent side menu•Visual location cues

•Large buttons•Consistent placement

•Large, simple images illustrate content or activity

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

NIHSeniorHealth – Health Information

Contents

• Text• Images• Videos• Test your knowledge quizzes• Frequently asked questions

(FAQs)

Topics

• Breast cancer • Colorectal cancer • Lung cancer• Prostate Cancer• Alzheimer’s Disease• Caring for Someone with

Alzheimer’s Disease• Exercise for Seniors• Hearing loss• Balance problems• Arthritis

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

Visual Impairment in the U.S. (I)

Source: Statistics on Vision Impairment - A Resource Manual (April 2002)Lighthouse International, http://www.lighthouse.org/researchstats.pdf

17%15%

17%

26%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Total 45-64 65-74 75+

Age Group

Percent of Americans age 45+ with a Self-Reported Vision Problem by Age

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

Visual Impairment in the U.S. (II)

• Numbers are based on 2000 census• There are an estimated 180 million people worldwide who have a

visual impairment, (2001, WHO, http://www.who.int/en/)

16,700,000

9,300,000

3,100,0004,300,000

-

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

18,000,000

Total 45-64 65-74 75+Age Group

Number of Americans age 45+ with a Self-Reported Vision Problem by Age

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

Today’s Technology & Disadvantages

Screen Readers- Window Eyes- JAWS for Windows- outSPOKEN

Braille Displays- Braille Terminal

Screen Magnifiers- Zoom Text- MAGic- BIGGY

Speech Recognition- NaturallySpeaking- IBM ViaVoice

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

NLM Approach & Advantages (I)

ContrastDisplay

TextNarration

TextMagnification

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

NLM Approach & Advantages (II)

• Server-based services• Zero code clients• Multiple browsers • Multiple platforms• User-controlled

magnification, narration & contrast

Servers/NLM

Clients/Users

Clients/Users

Servers/NLM

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

Technical Challenges & Tradeoffs

• Heterogeneous environment – Over 40 combinations of browses & platforms

• Performance – Speed of voice delivery• Quality – Compressed audio quality• Consistency – Consistent look & feel

and standard templates • Content management – Content

creation, review & publishing

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

User Experience

NIHSeniorHealthFeedbackTesting

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

Future Direction - Technology

Natural Voice Human Voice

Speech RecognitionPersonalization

Select a Voice Rate• Fast• Medium• Slow

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

• Diabetes (NIDDK)• Macular Degeneration (NEI)• Low vision• Glaucoma• Cataracts• Diabetic Retinopathy• Osteoporosis (NIAMS)• Paget’s disease• Falls and fractures (NIA)• Sleep and aging• End of life care (NINR)• Stroke (NINDS)

• Congestive Heart Failure (NHLBI)

• Heart Disease• Complementary and Alternative

Medicine (NCCAM)• Dietary Supplements (ODS)• Shingles (NIAID)• Medicare and Medicaid (CMS)• Oral Health and Dental Care

(NIDCR)• Sensory loss (NIDCD)• Aphasia

Future Direction - Contents

U.S. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINENATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHNIHSeniorHealth

Q & A

http://nihseniorhealth.gov/