ActiveOptions: Leveraging existing knowledge and usability testing to develop a physical activity program website for older adults

ActiveOptions (http://www.activeoptions.org) is a multi-agency effort to help people remain healthy as they age by providing Web access to information about senior-friendly exercise programs. This resource is currently available and in use in many locations across the United States. This paper focuses on the user interface to the site. It synthesizes existing knowledge related to creating an effective interface for this population, and describes the process we used which included a heuristic evaluation and usability testing.