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New weather information web page for senior citizens (with photos)
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     The Hong Kong Observatory and the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (SCHSA) held a press conference today (December 3) to remind the public, in particular senior citizens and persons with chronic medical conditions, to prepare for the cold season.

     To better meet the needs and interests of the elderly for weather information, a new web page, "Weather Information for Senior Citizens", was also inaugurated today.

     The Assistant Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, Dr Cheng Cho-ming, said that changes in weather, in particular cold conditions in winter, may have a significant health impact on the elderly.  

     The Observatory and the SCHSA have joined together to revamp the Weather Information for Senior Citizens web page. In the process of developing the web page, the SCHSA invited a group of elderly volunteers to contribute useful ideas and suggestions to the Observatory to enhance the page for senior citizens.

     A representative of the elderly volunteers group said: "The Observatory has incorporated our ideas into the new web page. The new design and functions of the web page greatly facilitate our browsing for weather information and fully meet our needs. The elderly-friendly design of the web page allows us to prepare for both indoor and outdoor activities."

     The Chief Executive Officer of the SCHSA, Ms Leung Shuk-yee, reminded the public to take the initiative to care and provide assistance for elderly persons in need, particularly during wintry weather.

     From the SCHSA's past experience, about 7 per cent of the calls they received from senior citizens through services including Personal Emergency Link Service (PE-Link) are for seeking emergency help, while other non-urgent enquiries are related to weather conditions such as cold weather warnings or tropical cyclone information. The elderly can now get access to weather information through PE-Link and the Weather Information for Senior Citizens web page provided by the Observatory.

     The new web page is designed to enable easy use and navigation by the elderly. It features a large font size and is equipped with a magnifier to enlarge the content of the web page. The web page also provides location-based weather information, the latest weather forecasts and weather video clips. Weather tips for taking appropriate precautionary measures will show up on the web page when weather warnings are in force.

     Members of the public are welcome to visit the new Weather Information for Senior Citizens web page at elderly.weather.gov.hk or elderly.hko.gov.hk.

Ends/Monday, December 3, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:38

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