Online Videos

Should you have any problems viewing the films, please take a look at the note on the accessibility of the videos at the bottom of this page.



Introduction to videos

The videos have been collected by the Inclusive Digital Economy Network. They present many of the challenges that older users often face when interacting with new technologies. The purpose of these videos is to highlight the issues in an insightful and thought provoking way.

The videos here are hosted on YouTube. Therefore, you can either view them on this webpage or on our YouTube channel: Inclusive Digital Economy Net channel on YouTube. On our YouTube channel, you can watch the video in full screen and, if you have a YouTube account (free to set up), you can even leave comments.

We have also provided transcripts for some of the videos. These transcripts are available as PDF files, which can be opened with Acrobat Reader, while some are also available as MS Word files, which can be opened with Microsoft Word.

You can also download a flyer for Relatively PC and Relative Confusion (MS Word, 45kb). This flyer provides the motivation behind each of these videos, as well as some extra background literature.



Video 1 - Blether

The popularity of instant messaging and other social networking tools, and the new means of communication that such tools foster, has resulted in increasing numbers of employers turning to such tools within the workplace. For older users, however, such tools can affect established ways of working.

This video is part of EPSRC Grant (EP/F066848/1). It has been made available through the Inclusive Digital Economy Network.

This video is in four parts.

Extra information
  • Full transcript for Blether - Coming Soon
  • Production Credits for Blether - Coming Soon
  • Request Blether on DVD

Blether Part 1

Blether Part 2

Blether Part 3

Blether Part 4

Video 2 - Relatively PC

How do you personalise your computer when you can't even switch it on? What are the pitfalls of online banking? And just what are you going to do with all that spam? Tommy, Jack and Maureen attempt to enter the digital age with a little help from Skippy!

This video was partly funded by an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant (EP/G002118/1).

This video is in four parts.

Extra information
Relatively PC Part 1

In the first part of this video, Jack's daughter Laura is planning to buy her father a new PC, but he is not as enthusiastic about the technology as everyone else appears to be. Meanwhile, Maureen is shocked to discover that she must use internet banking in future to access her various bank accounts.

Relatively PC Part 2

Tommy takes Jack to the computer shop to purchase his new computer. But when the salesman asks him what he wants to use the computer for, he's stumped. However, as Tommy notes, it must come with Skippy! Meanwhile, Laura is showing her Auntie Maureen how to access internet banking.

Relatively PC Part 3

Tommy has been duped by a seemingly innocent e-mail which, coupled with his lack of enthusiasm for the gift given to him by Maureen and Jack, reminds him that he is not getting any younger. Jack tries to cheer him up by attempting to send him an e-mail, which should be easy enough...shouldn't it?

Relatively PC Part 4

Maureen's growing confidence has encouraged her to give internet shopping a try, so she orders her groceries from the comfort of her home. However, when they are delivered, it isn't quite what she expected. Meanwhile, Jack finally manages to send his e-mail to Tommy, but in an unconventional manner...

Video 3 - Relative Confusion

When Jack and Tommy decided to surprise their sister Maureen with a digital TV system, the one thing they didn't reckon with was the minefield of bewildering new technology they were about to enter. One thing it won't be - a piece of cake!

This is a video showing some of the challenges provided by new technology to naïve users, especially older ones, illustrating the results of long-term research into these challenges.

This video is in three parts.

Extra information
Relative Confusion Part 1

In the first part of this video, Maureen is quietly celebrating her birthday while, at the same time, her brother Tommy is eager to get to grips with his new Digital TV system. Meanwhile, Maureen's other brother Jack has planned a birthday surprise for his sister…

Relative Confusion Part 2

In the second part of this video, Tommy has "burned" a DVD of the children as a present for his sister. But Maureen doesn't have anything that plays DVDs, or to let her watch Digital TV. But the shops are full of these new fancy digital boxes - surely it's just a case of buying the cheapest one you find…?

Relative Confusion Part 3

Maureen's digibox is up and running. She wants to record a programme of her son's home town to show her grandchildren. Although she no longer has a video recorder, surely it should be just as easy to record TV programmes on her new digibox, shouldn't it…?

Video 4 - A Steep Learning Curve

What happens when you put together a young computing graduate, an experienced marketing executive, and thousands of pounds worth of modern technology? And who has most to learn from the use of this technology - the new graduate or the traditionalist?

This is a video showing some of the challenges that can arise when attempting to fix problems with technology alone in large institutions.

This video is part of EPSRC Grant (EP/F066848/1). It has been made available through the Inclusive Digital Economy Network.

This video is in two parts.

Extra Information
A Steep Learning Curve Part 1

In the first part of this video, John introduces senior marketing executive Sheila to Edward, a recently graduated student of computing who has joined the company to update their computer system. How will their different levels of experience affect their working relationship?

A Steep Learning Curve Part 2

In the second part of this video, Sheila and Edward meet up with John to settle their differences over the use of a video conference with a new client. Who will win this battle of minds…?

Video 5 - Protected Living

With computing technology increasingly making its way into our homes, what impact will this have on our home lives in the future? In this video, we find out how technology can be extremely useful ... but also has its drawbacks...

Extra information

Video 6 - New Tricks

Increasing numbers of retired people are offering their extensive work experience in the form of part time "teleworking" employment. However, many will not have the same level of computing skills. How can this issue be rectified?

This video is part of EPSRC Grant (EP/F066848/1). It has been made available through the Inclusive Digital Economy Network.

Extra information

Accessibility of Videos

All our videos are provided with English captions which, by default, are switched on. To switch the captions off, take the following steps:

  1. When the video is playing, click on the "Pause" button: Pause button
  2. Hover your mouse over the arrow on the right hand side of the player: Arrow button
  3. Click the "CC" button to turn the captions off: Captions button
  4. Click on the "Play" button to restart the video. It will now play without captions.

Important: We are aware that YouTube currently has numerous accessibility problems which may prevent certain users from accessing the videos. Firstly, the default Youtube player itself is not keyboard accessible. If you wish to play the videos in a keyboard accessible player, we recommend Easy Youtube, which has an interface fully accessible through the keyboard alone. To play the videos in Easy Youtube, you will need to copy and paste the link to the video into the Easy Youtube address box. Each of the links is provided below:



Relatively PC

Relative Confusion

A Steep Learning Curve

Protected Living

New Tricks

We are also aware that YouTube's captioning facility is currently not available to screen readers. We are therefore in the process of putting together transcripts for each of the videos, and hope to make them available here shortly.

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