The Web offers older adult users immediate access to health resources that might not otherwise be available. Older adult users, however, may encounter Web barriers associated with normal aging and lower education. The National Institute on Aging Web guidelines were used to assess the usability of 125 Web sites offering health resources. Performance, translation, and reading complexity were also assessed. Results showed that many of the sampled sites were not senior-friendly. Only 12% of the sites offered a Spanish version, many containing nontranslated text. Approximately a third of sampled sites required a college education to comprehend extracted health information.

Innovative technologies are rapidly emerging that offer caregivers the support and means to assist older adults with cognitive impairment to continue living "at home." Technology research and development efforts applied to older adults with dementia invoke special grant review and institutional review board concerns, to ensure not only safe but also ethically appropriate interventions. Evidence is emerging, however, that tensions are growing between innovators and reviewers. Reviewers with antitechnology biases are in a position to stifle needed innovation. Technology developers who fail to understand the clinical and caregiving aspects of dementia may design applications that are not in alignment with users' capabilities. To bridge this divide, we offer an analysis of the ethical issues surrounding home monitoring, a model framework, and ethical guidelines for technology research and development for persons with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers.

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It is imperative that online government services appreciate the navigational needs of an ever-growing segment of their constituency.