Abstract
This article reviews progress in the development of standards and guidelines for software accessibility, including those developed within international and US standards bodies. Key factors driving efforts to identify and define effective design guidelines for software accessibility include demographic trends and the “graying” population, new legislation and the increasing pervasiveness of information technology and devices. An overview of the US Software Accessibility draft standard, including accessibility-focused design guidance for Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, is provided. A variety of resources providing design guidance for improved accessibility are identified, and expected developments in formal standards for software accessibility are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ACM 3rd International Conference on Assistive Technologies (1998) Marina Del Rey, CA, 15-17 April 1998
Apple Computer (1995) Macintosh human interface guidelines. Addison Wesley, Cambridge, MA
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (1998) Telecommunications act accessibility guidelines (36 CFR Part 1193, RIN 3014-AA19). Federal Register, 63(22), 5607–5641
Battat B (2002). Report to the ATIS IVR Forum on the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems SHHH Online Consumer Survey
Benson V, Marano MA (1998) Current estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 1995. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 10 (199):79–80
Brown CM (1998) Human-computer interface design guidelines. Ablex, Norwood, NJ
US Census Bureau (1997) www.census.gov/hhes/-www/disable/sipp/disable97.html. Cited 1997
Eurostat (1995) Europa in zahlen, 4, Ausgabe, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Brussels, Belgium
Gardner-Bonneau DJ (2001) Meeting the needs of older adults in speech application design. In: Proceedings of AVIOS 2001 Conference & Expo on Speech Technology Applications, AVIOS, San Jose, CA
Howell WC (1997) Foreword, perspectives, and prospectives. In: Fisk AD, Rogers WA (eds) Handbook of human factors and the older adult, Academic, New York
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (2002) HFES 200 Human Factors Engineering of Software User Interfaces, Part 2: Software Accessibility, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Santa Monica, CA
International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) (2002) ISO 16071 Ergonomics of human-system interaction—guidance on software accessibility. Technical Specification. Geneva, Switzerland
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (2001) Guidelines for standards developers to address the need of older persons and persons with disabilities (ISO/IEC Guide 71:2001E) Geneva, Switzerland (http://www.tiresias.org/guidelines/guide71/index_htm)
International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) (1998) ISO 9241 Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs), Part 11 Guidance on Usability. International Standard. Geneva, Switzerland
International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) (1997) ISO 9241–14: Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs): Menu dialogues. Geneva, Switzerland
International Organization for Standardization (ISO). (1994). ISO/IEC 13714 – Information technology – Document processing and related communication – User Interface to Telephone-based Services – Voice Messaging Applications. Geneva, Switzerland
Mayhew D (1992) Principles and guidelines in software user interface design. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
National Council on Disability (2002) The accessible future. National Council on Disability, Washington, DC
National Organization on Disability (2000) Harris survey of Americans with disabilities.National Organization on Disability, Washington, DC
Nielsen J (1993) Usability engineering. Academic, New York
Reed P, Holdaway K, Isensee S, Buie E, Fox J, Williams J and Lund A (1999) User interface guidelines and standards: progress, issues, and prospects. Interact Comput 12:110–142
Smith, W (1996) ISO and ANSI ergonomic standards for computer products. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ
Stephanidis C, Salvendy G, Akoumianakis D, Bevan, N, Brewer J, Emiliani PL, Galetsas A, Haataja S, Iakovidis I, Jacko J, Jenkins P, Karshmer A, Korn P, Marcus A, Murphy H, Stary C, Vanderheiden G, Weber G and Ziegler J (1998) Toward an information society for all: an international R&D agenda. Int J Hum-Comput Interact 10(2):107–134
Stephanidis C (2001) User interfaces for all—concepts, methods and tools. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996) Pub. L. No. 104–104, 47 U.S. C. Part 255; Chapter XI, 36 CFR
Universal Access in the Information Society. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reed, P.S., Gardner-Bonneau, D. & Isensee, S. Software accessibility standards and guidelines: progress, current status, and future developments. Univ Access Inf Soc 3, 30–37 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-003-0071-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-003-0071-9