Overview
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
ISO is the world's largest developer of standards and is developing several accessibility standards in the ergonomics technical committee (TC 159). These accessibility standards, expected to be final in 2007, will be part of ISO Standard 9241, which addresses ergonomic requirements of human computer system interaction. IBM has been a key participant in the development of these accessibility standards by participating in several national bodies worldwide.
ISO 9241 Part 20 Accessibility Guidelines for ICT Equipment and Services
Part 20 of ISO 9241 provides general guidelines for information and communications technology (ICT) equipment. It describes major product attributes with design examples. Part 20 also provides information for planning, designing and developing ICT equipment and services, and for acquiring and evaluating ICT equipment and services. This includes both hardware and software aspects of information processing equipment, electronic communication facilities, office machines, and other similar technologies and services, which can be used in work, home, mobile and public environments.
ISO 9241 Part 171 Guidance on Software Accessibility
Part 171 of ISO 9241 provides guidelines specifically for software accessibility. It applies to software that forms part of interactive systems used in the home, in leisure activities, in public situations, and at work. Requirements and recommendations are provided for system design, appearance, behavior, individualization, and interoperability with assistive technologies.
Joint Technical Committee-1 (JTC-1) Special Working Group on Accessibility
JTC-1 is a collaborative effort of both the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) which was formed to deal with information technology standards where there is substantial overlap between ISO and IEC.
In October 2004, JTC-1 created a special working group on accessibility (SWG-A) to investigate the various accessibility standards activities taking place in ISO, IEC, ITR, national and regional standards bodies, consortia, and user groups. The SWG-A deliverables are as follows:
- Gather user requirements.
- Gather and publish an inventory of all known accessibility standards efforts.
- Identify areas/technologies where voluntary standards are not being addressed and suggest an appropriate body to consider the new work.
- Track public laws, policies/measures and guidelines to ensure the necessary standards are available.
IBM participates and contributes to SWG-A through the US and UK national bodies, specifically driving closure on the gathering of user requirements which resulted in a User Needs Summary document, a comprehensive description of the problems and needs of users with disabilities.
Last updated, July 27, 2007