Happy 80th birthday: wishes and a video they can follow

Someone turning 80 may not see or hear as well as they used to, and a fast, busy video can be hard to follow. A few choices help a lot:

• Few, short words. Keep Message and any card text to a few words, so they read at a glance.
• Fewer photos, longer on screen. Thirty to forty photos for five minutes gives each one time to be recognised.
• Clear messages. Ask people to film close to the phone in a quiet room and say who they are first.
• A big screen. Play it on a TV rather than a phone, with the sound up and the room quiet.

Old photos and the stories behind them

Eighty years usually means black-and-white prints and albums in several houses. Photograph prints in daylight, straight on and without flash, and ask relatives to do the same. Play the video with them and let them tell the stories behind the faces; it often becomes the best part of the day.

Turning 90 often means four generations, spread across the country. The happy 90th birthday page covers gathering clips from each branch of the family and playing the video in a care home.

A hundredth birthday deserves its own plan, from three photos a decade to the card from the King in the UK: see happy 100th birthday. For older relatives in general, the happy birthday grandma page has more ideas.