AccessAbility SIG of STC: Internet ISO Standards

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Internet ISO Standards

A new ally with our SIG is Mr. Richard N. P. Hodgkinson FISTC, Visual Design/Accessibility Focal Point/ISO Standards Development, Cross Product Support, User Technologies, with IBM United Kingdom Limited, Hursley Park, Winchester, Hampshire.

Richard is a Fellow of the U.K. ISTC (Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators) and is a member of the SIG's Chat list. You may contact him through the list but his input may be sporadic because of his various activities and responsibilities. His e-mail addresses are:

• Lotus Notes:
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Richard has provided us with information about two ISO technical standards related to usability, accessibility, and systems software documentation:

ISO/TS 16071:2003
ISO/IEC FDIS 18019:2003(E)

ISO/TS 16071:2003

"Ergonomics of human-system interaction — Guidance on accessibility for human-computer interfaces" Revised

Areas of interest to SIG members are addressed in Clause 7.11. This standard, published in May 2003, is the result of several years of development. It was based upon (and with their permission) a U.S. Human Factors Society guideline which is still in development. Technical committee / subcommittee ISO/TC 159/SC 4/WG 5 (software ergonomics and human-computer interaction) developed ISO TS 16071. Due to more recent developments (for example, U.S. Section 508 legislation) a successor standard has already been approved. This will be titled "Guidance on software accessibility" and it will be developed by the same ISO committee. Richard N. P. Hodgkinson is the editor for the new standard.
ISO Press Release Revised about ISO/TS 16071, Ref. 858, 3 June 2003: "ISO guidelines to designing software for users with disabilities". Of particular interest is the link to the report by System Concepts on accessibility issues related to the BBCi web site.
Requirements Survey for the Revision of ISO 16071. () The purpose of this questionnaire is to enable WG 5 to improve the structure and content to best meet the needs of the users of the new 16071 standard. Please complete this survey and return it to Richard.

ISO/IEC FDIS 18019:2003(E)

"Software and systems engineering — Guidelines for the design and preparation of user documentation for application software" (1.7 MB ).

These guidelines are being completed in a separate committee (ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7/WG 2 - Systems software documentation). The guidelines address documentation accessibility requirements primarily in Clause 4.2.6. Richard N. P. Hodgkinson is the editor of this standard.

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Contact Us

Send comments, questions, and suggestions to the . Or contact the A-SIG Co-Managers directly:

Karen Mardahl
A-SIG Co-Manager:
international issues
E-mail:

Lisa Pappas
A-SIG Co-Manager:
strategic planning, administration
E-mail:

Karen Mardahl
A-SIG Co-Manager:
international issues
E-mail:

Lisa Pappas
A-SIG Co-Manager:
strategic planning, administration
E-mail:

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Last updated: 24 February 2008
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