This paper presents a systematic approach to the development of a set of research-based ageingcentred web design guidelines (SilverWeb Guidelines). The approach included an initial extensive literature review in the area of human-computer interaction and ageing, the development of an initial set of guidelines based on the reviewed literature, a card sorting exercise for their classification, an affinity diagramming exercise for the reduction and further finalisation of the guidelines, and finally a set of heuristic evaluations for the validation and test of robustness of the guidelines. The 38 final guidelines are grouped into eleven distinct categories (target design, use of graphics, navigation, browser window features, content layout design, links, user cognitive design, use of colour and background, text design, search engine, user feedback and support).

This paper presents the methodology and the results of the development of a set of age-centered research-based web design guidelines. An initial set of guidelines was first developed through careful literature review of the HCI & Aging literature. Then a series of classification methods (card sorting, affinity diagrams) were employed as a means for obtaining a revised and more robust classified set of guidelines. Finally the revised set of guidelines and the original set were tested through their application to a number of age-related websites.