[children's voices]

Narrator: It has been said that computers are the playground of the young, but what of older folks? By 2030, the older population of the United States will more than double as the baby boom becomes the senior boom. It's a great time to be a senior. Old people today are better educated than past generations and for the most part, healthier.

Man: I'm always checking my PSA level -- and I'm always looking and worried about that.

Narrator: And they're living in an era of unprecedented medical discovery, promising exciting new treatments and better strategies for preventing disease and fresh ideas for healthier lifestyles. But medical research tells us that as we age we are still at greater risk for a variety of illnesses. To help today's seniors locate the latest information about health and wellness, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, has developed an exciting online resource -- NIHSeniorHealth.

Woman: I think the NIH is one of the first places that people go to for health information.

Dr. Donald Lindberg: This senior health site is the perfect way for seniors to get up-to-date answers to health questions. The Internet is full of very important and valuable information. Sometimes the way it's presented, it's difficult for a person with low vision to read because they don't use big characters, they don't use high contrast, they often don't pick the right colors because you know a lot of people have color blindness and so all those are real obstacles to seniors getting at the information that they really need to have. We think we've corrected many of those problems with this new senior health page.

Man: I like the site -- it's particularly well suited to me because it doesn't assume a whole lot. I don't know that much about medical questions so when I go to ask a question, it gives me the answer in words I understand. And if I want to go deeper, I can -- usually I don't.

Woman: I have frequently turned on the high contrast because when Im surfing or reading I really had to have my glasses on and the high contrast will occasionally -- or the enlarged text -- will occasionally make it easy for me to quick do something without having to go find my glasses and put them on.

Dr. Richard Hodes: Research in a variety of areas has really converged to make the senior health site what it is today. Among these areas of research has been the study of cognition -- the way in which people think and the way in which this changes with age. People change their styles of cognition -- the way in which they deal with problems and the way in which they assimilate information. And so this website was designed to present information in a way that would be maximally understandable and utilizable by older men and women.

Narrator: The topics on NIHSeniorHealth include hearing loss, balance problems, exercise for older adults, plus the latest information in diseases such as Alzheimers, arthritis, and cancer. The site is packed with features that make learning fun including short videos, first-person stories, quizzes, and lots of frequently asked questions. And the National Institutes of Health has done its homework to ensure that the site is senior-friendly with large type, simple language, short pages, and other features that make searching easy. There's even a talking function -- especially helpful for those with low vision -- that lets people have the text read aloud to them.

Computer: Speech on.

Woman: At the top of the screen, you have these three choices -- to enlarge the text, to request high contrast, or to turn the speech on. Once you turn click "Turn Speech On," then you will hear what is on the screen being read to you.

Computer: This is a talking website.

Narrator: When you look at how our senior population is growing and how many adults are experiencing the excitement of finding health information on the Internet, it's the perfect time to launch an NIH website for the older population.

Dr. Richard Hodes: The collaboration that led to the site is an important and illustrative one. It reflects the interests and importance that the whole federal government and the Department of Health and Human Services regard in conveying research findings to the public in a format which maximizes their ability to use this information to preserve and optimize quality of life.

Dr. Donald Lindberg: We know that only about half the people in the U.S. actually have computers and Internet access. The rest, actually, through public libraries, medical libraries, and senior centers can get access to the same information. This senior health site is, in my opinion, the perfect place for seniors to get up-to-date answers to health questions. In addition, the information is the very best that National Institutes of Health and medical research can offer.

Narrator: With NIHSeniorHealth, millions of seniors will have a helpful new tool to aid them throughout life. Now the world's most comprehensive and reliable source of information on health and wellness is just a mouse click away. The answers you need will be there when you need them -- that's the promise of NIHSeniorHealth.