Icons to Hardware: The evolving range of ISO & ISO/IECInternational Accessibility Standards

Jim CarterUSERLabUniversity of Saskatchewan

BSI/JISC CETIS Accessibility Standards Workshop

Scope of this presentation

While an increasing number of groups in ISO and ISO/IEC are involved in accessibility standards, this presentation will focus on the standards of:

ISO Technical Committee TC159 Ergonomics Sub Committee 4 Ergonomics of Human-system interaction

ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 Information Technology Sub Committee 35 User Interfaces

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Stds with broad applicability

ISO 9241-20:2008 Accessibility guidelines for information/communication

technology (ICT) equipment and services

ISO/IEC 13066-1:2011 Information Technology — Interoperability with Assistive

Technology (AT)

ISO 9241-171:2008 Guidance on software accessibility

ISO/IEC 29136:201x Accessibility of personal computer hardware

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Stds with broad applicability

ISO 9241-20 ICT accessibility Focuses accessibility guidance on characteristics of: users,

tasks, equipment and services, and environment Also includes basic guidance on managing development

ISO/IEC 13066-1 IT-AT interoperability Focuses interoperability guidance on: HW to HW, HW to SW,

and SW to SW interfaces

Both ISO 9241-171 Software accessibility and ISO/IEC 29136 Hardware accessibility Focus accessibility guidance on: general issues, inputs, and

outputs

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Stds with broad applicability

ISO/IEC 24756: 2009 Framework for specifying a common access profile (CAP) of

needs and capabilities of users, systems, and their environments

is based on the Universal Access Reference Model, which focuses on overcoming handicaps to interactions without allocating blame to the sources of the handicaps

provides a common, computable manner of identify capabilities of users, systems (including AT), environments

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Accessibility going mainstream

ISO/IEC 19766: 2007 Guidelines for the design of icons and symbols to be

accessible to all users – Including the elderly and persons with disabilities

Has now been completely incorporated within:

ISO/IEC 11581-10: 2010 Information Technology — User Interface Icons —Framework

and General Guidance

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Accessibility going mainstream

ISO 9241-129: 2010 Guidance on accessibility

Was developed as a mainstream standard, incorporating accessibility concerns

Identifies “accessibility” as the first of its five main principles

(and can work with the JTC1/SC36 series on: ISO/IEC 24751-1, Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility

in E-learning, Education and Training

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Component Accessibility

ISO/IEC 24786: 2010 Accessible user interface for accessibility settings

ISO/IEC 13066 Accessibility API Technical Reports Provide supplementary information on how various

accessibility APIs can help meet the requirements of ISO/IEC 13066-1

Current TR’s under development: Part 2: Windows automation framework accessibility API Part 3: I-Accessible2 accessibility API Part 4: Linux/UNIX graphical environments accessibility API Part 6: Java accessibility API.

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Component Accessibility

A new series has just begun:

ISO/IEC 20071 User interface component accessibility Part 11 – TR Guidance on creating alternative text for images

Working Draft currently under development

Potential future parts: Accessible Video Content: Descriptive Video and Closed Captioning Accessible navigation ….

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