Blogger Astrid Plugge is creating a series of blogs for Technology for Home about her search for the right healthcare technology that can supplement the care of her son with severe, drug-resistant epilepsy. In this blog, Astrid talks about her experience with the Compaan, a tablet designed for seniors.

In a world where technology is becoming increasingly intertwined with our daily lives, groups are being left behind. Seniors in particular often find it difficult to use tablets or computers. But there are also other users who need a little extra support, for example children with special needs, like my son Ilya.

I was curious whether this tablet would also be suitable for children like Ilya, who need a little extra guidance in the digital world.

Complete and safe experience

The Compaan is designed so that seniors can operate it easily. It has large recognizable buttons, easy-to-understand icons for messages, photos, video calling and calendar, and even its own app store. The idea is to provide a complete and safe experience, perfectly tailored to the needs of the elderly. As an informal caregiver you also have a Compaan app on your phone and you can determine with whom users can make video calls and with whom they exchange messages. You can watch from a distance, but also put medication use in the agenda or quickly send a message or share a photo.

Users of the Compaan can also access the internet with the tablet, but I had disabled this function for Ilya.

The games are favorites

But is the Compaan also suitable for children with an intellectual disability? Can they find their way? We went to try it and what immediately pleasantly surprised me was how well Ilya did with the Compaan. It was difficult for him at first, because what do those icons mean? But after some repetition, he was eventually able to navigate reasonably well and even mastered calling. I found this out when my own Compaan app played a loud ringtone in the middle of my presentation at a conference. Very clever, but the timing was not convenient.

His big favorite were of course the games, but he also enjoyed taking and receiving photos. This way we could share photos we took with him. He could also send messages. Google converts voice messages into written text, which made him feel more involved. After all, he is already twelve and wants to be able to participate fully in our family and in society.

Een 12-jarig kind met donkerblonde krullen die op een tablet tikt

The reading function was not always available

But there were some limitations I noticed during testing. One of the nice options of the Compaan is that you can read news articles or have them read to you. However, the news articles cannot be edited, so this function is not suitable for Ilya. He needs customized content. He is very socially involved, but news reports about wars are not appropriate. You can access videos and texts from the youth news via the internet, but accessing the internet independently is too complicated and not wise.

Additionally, the reading functionality was not available on all areas of the tablet, which may limit accessibility for some users. For example, there is a very nice quiz about animals, but because he cannot have the questions read to him, he cannot do it independently.

Small keyboard

Sending messages was difficult independently. Although the icons are large and clear, the keyboard you use to type and send voice messages is the standard tablet keyboard. This has a very small icon to send voice messages and that is too complicated for children like Ilya.

It is a valuable tool

Despite these minor shortcomings, Ilya had a lot of fun with the Compaan and it can also be a valuable tool for this group, with some minor adjustments. In this way, people with an intellectual disability also become digitally skilled and therefore more self-reliant. In any case, Ilya felt very involved

In an age where technology has become an integral part of our lives, it is important that we ensure that no one is left behind. The Compaan is a step in the right direction.