Older South Koreans Face Barriers as Self-Service Kiosks Expand

Older adults in South Korea continue to struggle with self-service kiosks as the technology spreads across restaurants, hospitals and transportation, according to a Seoul Economic Daily report. A government survey found adults 55 and older had a digital literacy level equal to 71.8% of the general population's, the lowest among the vulnerable groups surveyed. Access was not the problem: older adults scored 95.4% of the general population's level for digital access but only 56.2% for skills, falling to 29.4% among those 70 and older. About 54.2% of older adults reported at least occasional kiosk use, compared with 74.5% overall. Difficulty navigating machines and anxiety about holding up other customers were among the barriers identified. South Korea has introduced accessibility requirements covering assistance options, voice guidance and accessible kiosk designs, phased in by business size. Government training programs teach digital skills, and the report highlighted calls to preserve staffed counters and in-person service while building accessibility into kiosks from the start. For operators deploying kiosks and self-service terminals, the data points to a design and service tradeoff that shows up in mature unattended markets: hardware access outpaces user skill. Voice guidance, large-format prompts, staffed assistance overlays and clear escalation paths are becoming baseline expectations, and jurisdictions beyond Korea are moving in the same direction on accessibility requirements for public-facing self-service devices. Source: Kiosk Marketplace — https://www.kioskmarketplace.com/news/older-south-koreans-face-barriers-as-kiosk-use-expands/