Paul Boughton
ISO has published a report that will help make products, services and environments more accessible to older people and those with disabilities. The new ISO technical report, 'Ergonomics data and guidelines for the application of ISO/IEC Guide 71 to products and services to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities' (ISO/TR22411:2008), offers technical information, data and ergonomic know-how.
It builds on the contribution already made in this area by ISO/IEC Guide 71:2001, which is aimed mainly at experts and government bodies working in the field of standardisation. According to ISO, standards exist for almost every product or service used by humans. The new technical report can also be used by manufacturers, designers, service providers, educators and others.
Each of the report's design considerations or recommendations is based on ergonomic principles necessary for making accessible products, services and environments encountered in all aspects of daily life, as well as in the consumer market.
Accessible design extends standard design to persons with some type of performance limitation. Its purpose is to maximise the number of people who can readily use a product, building or service. This can be achieved either by designing products, services and environments that are readily usable by most users without any modification, by making products or services adaptable to different users (adapting user interfaces), or by means of standardised interfaces that are compatible with special products for persons with disabilities.
The issue of the accessibility of products, services and environments has become more important with the increasing percentage of older persons in the world's population and the high prevalence of disability or limitations in this demographic group as expressed in the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.
Georg Krämer, chair of the ISO committee that authored the report, comments: "Products, services and the places where people live, work and play should be designed to be accessible for the widest range of the population, including those with special requirements.
"This report will help a greater number of individuals to become involved in social activities without the restrictions often imposed by age or disability. The economic benefit is that products developed using accessible design will be able to be purchased by a wider range of people, including older persons and those with disabilities, who are now a significant proportion of consumers with buying power."
ISO/TR 22411:2008, 'Ergonomics data and guidelines for the application of ISO/IEC Guide 71 to products and services to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities,' was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 159 (Ergonomics), Working Group WG 2 (Ergonomics for persons with special requirements).
For more information, visit www.iso.org
It builds on the contribution already made in this area by ISO/IEC Guide 71:2001, which is aimed mainly at experts and government bodies working in the field of standardisation. According to ISO, standards exist for almost every product or service used by humans. The new technical report can also be used by manufacturers, designers, service providers, educators and others.
Each of the report's design considerations or recommendations is based on ergonomic principles necessary for making accessible products, services and environments encountered in all aspects of daily life, as well as in the consumer market.
Accessible design extends standard design to persons with some type of performance limitation. Its purpose is to maximise the number of people who can readily use a product, building or service. This can be achieved either by designing products, services and environments that are readily usable by most users without any modification, by making products or services adaptable to different users (adapting user interfaces), or by means of standardised interfaces that are compatible with special products for persons with disabilities.
The issue of the accessibility of products, services and environments has become more important with the increasing percentage of older persons in the world's population and the high prevalence of disability or limitations in this demographic group as expressed in the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.
Georg Krämer, chair of the ISO committee that authored the report, comments: "Products, services and the places where people live, work and play should be designed to be accessible for the widest range of the population, including those with special requirements.
"This report will help a greater number of individuals to become involved in social activities without the restrictions often imposed by age or disability. The economic benefit is that products developed using accessible design will be able to be purchased by a wider range of people, including older persons and those with disabilities, who are now a significant proportion of consumers with buying power."
ISO/TR 22411:2008, 'Ergonomics data and guidelines for the application of ISO/IEC Guide 71 to products and services to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities,' was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 159 (Ergonomics), Working Group WG 2 (Ergonomics for persons with special requirements).
For more information, visit www.iso.org
