A visuo-biometric authentication mechanism for older users

Abstract

The Web is an invaluable resource for users of all ages, but it especially offers facilities which can make a huge difference to the lives of elderly users, many of whom have to contend with limited mobility and frequent illness. Whereas there is some understanding of the issues that pertain to designing websites for this group of users, the issue of specialized Web authentication has not received much attention. Web authentication is of ten treated as a one-size-fits-all problem with ubiquitous use of the password, and indeed authentication is seldom tailored to the needs of either the site or the target users. Sites are seldom subjected to a risk analysis before an authentication mechanism is chosen. This paper proposes a technique for matching the risk levels of a website to the security rating of an authentication mechanism and presents an authentication mechanism that is tailored to the needs of elderly users for protecting sites with a low risk rating. Usage data from a field test of this mechanism is reported, which show that the mechanism is indeed feasible and meets older users' needs.