Designing for Parents & Older Guests: Big Text, Clear CTAs, Simple Flows

The potential customer base for almost every website and digital product includes a wide range of age groups. For public-facing sites—especially those for small businesses, hospitality, venues, or local services—parents and older adults make up a crucial segment. Yet, many digital experiences are built with younger, digitally-native audiences in mind, unintentionally excluding visitors who need more clarity and accessibility. Prioritising clear text, obvious calls-to-action (CTAs), and straightforward user flows not only helps older customers and parents but also results in better experiences for everyone.

This post explores key principles and practical approaches to help your website or app become more inclusive, resulting in better conversion, higher satisfaction, and greater loyalty among parents and older guests.

Why Focus on Parents & Older Visitors?

While digital comfort and familiarity is rising across all generations, there remain significant differences in confidence, preferences, and accessibility needs between younger and older users. Parents navigating with one hand while watching a child, or older guests adapting to digital services, commonly report barriers such as small text, unclear processes, and unintuitive navigation. These issues can prevent bookings, enquiries, or sales altogether.

• Older adults may deal with visual, cognitive, or motor skill limitations, and may be less familiar with recent web conventions.
• Parents, especially those of young children, might be distracted, using smaller devices, or juggling tasks in a hurry. Simplicity and speed are essential.
• All users appreciate clarity, but for these groups subtle design missteps can have outsized negative effects.

By designing with these audiences in mind, you not only improve accessibility and inclusion, but also boost usability for everyone, as these best practices generally make digital experiences clearer and more effective.

Principle 1: Big, Readable Text

Small, stylish text might look sleek to designers, but it can be a dealbreaker for older users and parents glancing at your site while multitasking. Legible, comfortable text is foundational to accessibility.

Why Size & Contrast Matter

• Vision changes with age: Most people over 45 begin to require larger text for comfortable reading. Font sizes that seem fine to younger users can be unreadably small for others.
• On-the-go use: Parents browsing while out and about, with one eye and hand on a child, need text that stands out without squinting.
• Contrast and clarity: Low-contrast text or fancy fonts can frustrate all, but especially those with vision impairments.

Best Practices for Readable Text

• Base font size: Set body text to at least 16px; use larger for older audiences. Headlines should scale appropriately (at least 24px and up for importance).
• High contrast: Use dark text on light backgrounds, or vice versa. Avoid grey-on-grey. Aim for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, ideally 7:1 for critical content.
• Legible typefaces: Use clean, sans-serif fonts. Avoid ornate, script, or ultra-light fonts for large blocks of text or important instructions.
• Spacing: Adequate line spacing and padding improves scanning—1.5 line height and ample space between paragraphs create a more relaxed reading flow.
• Support zooming: Avoid layouts that break if a user increases browser zoom. Style responsively.

Simple text upgrades often produce the highest ROI for accessibility and user satisfaction.

Principle 2: Clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

A call-to-action is what you want the user to do next—book now, call, sign up, enquire, etc. For many parents and older guests, if your CTA is hidden, too subtle, or ambiguous, you lose custom. Clear CTAs are critical for both conversion and user confidence.

Common CTA Pitfalls

• Buttons that blend into their background
• Non-descriptive text like “Submit” or “More” rather than “Book Table” or “View Menu”
• Multiple or conflicting CTAs vying for attention
• Placing CTAs at the very bottom, out of sight or scroll
• Using icons without text (e.g. 🛒 instead of “Add to Basket”)

Making CTAs Obvious and Effective

• Contrasting colour: Use a bright, distinctive button or link colour for CTAs—one not used elsewhere for less-critical links.
• Direct, specific wording: Your button should say exactly what happens next: “Book Now”, “See Opening Times”, “Download Menu”. Remove all ambiguity.
• Size and spacing: Buttons need to be large enough to tap comfortably (at least 44x44px for mobile) and clearly separated from other content.
• One primary action per view: Where possible, focus on a single main goal to avoid decision fatigue, especially on mobile.
• Visible placement: Place CTAs above the fold and repeat them as necessary down the page for long content.
• Consistent language: Use the same action words, icons, and positioning sitewide so people build familiarity with your process.

Parents and older guests often report relief when instructions are “just clear” and unambiguous. Don’t force them to guess.

Principle 3: Simple, Predictable Flows

A “flow” is the series of steps a visitor takes to achieve a goal—making a booking, sending an enquiry, or checking information. Complexity or unexpected steps can especially confuse or discourage older users and busy parents. Healthy digital design anticipates cognitive overload and minimises friction.

Common Process Pain Points

• Forms with unnecessary fields, unclear labels, or unexpected questions
• Asking for information in an illogical order (name before date of visit, for example)
• Broken or hidden progress indicators
• Sudden page reloads or unclear error messages (“something went wrong” without specifics)
• Forgetting info between steps, or not allowing “back” navigation

Best Practices for Simple Flows

• Minimise steps: Remove all fields, clicks, or steps that aren’t critical. Fewer actions mean less chance for confusion or error.
• Group related info: Collect information in logical, familiar sequences (e.g., date, time, party size for restaurant booking).
• Progress indicators: If a process takes multiple steps, show a clear progress bar or step count (“Step 2 of 3”).
• Instant feedback: Show clear, specific feedback for errors (“Please enter a valid email address”) and confirmations (“Booking received!”).
• Allow going back: Make it easy to review or change previous entries without starting over.

If possible, observe a parent or older user trying to complete your main flows. Their stumbling blocks are likely common to others, and simple flow improvements can dramatically reduce drop-offs.

Additional Tips for Inclusive Design

• Test on real devices: Use phones, tablets, and larger screens—especially popular models used by older adults (iPads, simpler Androids). Emulators are not enough.
• Clear navigation: Ensure your main menu features large, clickable/tappable items and uses straightforward language (“Contact”, “About”, “Book Now”) rather than jargon or clever wordplay.
• Allow phone and email contact: Some guests much prefer to call or email. Have your phone number and email clear and clickable—don’t force everyone into a digital form.
• Avoid popups and distraction: Excessive popups or requests for cookies/notifications can confuse and frustrate. Use sparingly, especially on mobile.
• Accessible feedback: Confirmation messages should remain visible long enough to be read, and navigation changes should be announced or obvious.
• Provide support paths: A clear link (“Need help?”) to FAQs, contact, or live chat avoids frustration for those who get stuck.

Case Studies & Real-World Outcomes

Small adjustments in text size, CTA clarity, and flow simplicity have led to measurable results for local businesses:

• Local restaurant: Increasing menu font size and button contrast boosted online bookings by 22% among users over 50, measured via Google Analytics user demographics.
• Children’s activity centre: Streamlining the party booking form from 12 fields to 5 and grouping date/time together led to a 37% decrease in abandoned bookings among mobile users.
• Hairdresser’s website: Adding a “Call to book” button visible on every page increased phone enquiries from parents whose children had special needs (and weren’t comfortable with online forms).

Across sectors, the same pattern emerges: clarity and accessibility drive better business results.

Conclusion

Building for parents and older guests means paying extra attention to text size, the visibility and wording of your primary actions, and every step a visitor must take to achieve their goal. The needs of these audiences—bigger type, clear process, forgiving feedback—are shared by many more people than designers often realise.

Whether you operate a family restaurant, local event space, clinic, or any customer-facing business, the effort spent on accessibility and simplicity pays ongoing dividends: happier customers, more conversions, and a reputation for truly welcoming all.

If you need help with your website, app, or digital marketing — get in touch today at info@webmatter.co.uk or call 07546 289 419.