Conformance in ISO 9241-171 and ANSI 200.2

For our upcoming discussion on developing the conformance section of UAAG20, I thought you might be interested in comparing with those of ISO 9241-171 and ANSI 200.2, which deal with design of accessible software. The documents were developed together and harmonized as much as possible, although specific wording varies based on requirements from each organization. Note in particular the following lines (ISO wording), each of which could have some applicability to UAAG20:

* Server software (used in client-server and mainframe environments) shall be evaluated in conjunction with the client (including terminal) software that would be used with it.

* Software used on or intended to be used on closed systems shall be evaluated in conjunction with the intended hardware configuration and shall be in accordance with all requirements of Clauses 8, 9, 10 and 11, except for those given in 8.6.



INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 9241-171: Ergonomics of human-system interaction — Part 171: Guidance on software accessibility
First edition 2008-07-15

7.2 Conformance

Conformance with this part of ISO 9241 is achieved by satisfying all the applicable requirements and by the provision of a systematic list of all the recommendations that have been satisfied. Any requirements that have been determined not to be applicable shall also be listed, together with a statement of the reasons why they are not applicable. For reference purposes, all the clauses including requirements are listed in Annex B.

Users of this part of ISO 9241 shall evaluate the applicability of each requirement (a “shall” statement) and should evaluate the applicability of each recommendation (a “should” statement) to determine whether it is applicable in the particular context of use that has been established for the interactive system that is being designed (“may” statements give permission). If a product is claimed to have met the applicable recommendations in ISO 9241-171, the procedure used in establishing requirements for, developing and/or evaluating, the software accessibility shall be specified. The level of specification of the procedure is a matter of negotiation between the involved parties.

ISO 13407:1999, 7.2, and ISO 9241-11:1998, 5.3, shall be consulted for guidance on the identification and specification of the context of use; see Annex C for guidance on assessing applicability.

Annex C provides a means both for determining and recording the applicability of all the requirements and recommendations and for reporting that they have been followed. Other equivalent forms of report are acceptable.

Server software (used in client-server and mainframe environments) shall be evaluated in conjunction with the client (including terminal) software that would be used with it.

Software used on or intended to be used on closed systems shall be evaluated in conjunction with the intended hardware configuration and shall be in accordance with all requirements of Clauses 8, 9, 10 and 11, except for those given in 8.6.



ANSI/HFES 200: Human Factors Engineering Of Software User Interfaces - Part 2: Accessibility

7.2 Conformance

If a product is claimed to have met the applicable recommendations in any part of HFES 200, the procedures used in establishing requirements for, developing, and/or evaluating the recommendations shall be specified. The level of specification of the procedure is a matter of negotiation between the involved parties.

Software used on, or intended to be used on closed systems should be evaluated in conjunction with the intended hardware configuration and conform to all clauses except section 8.5.

Server software (used in client-server and mainframe environments) should be evaluated in conjunction with the client (including terminal) software that will be used with it.

In part 2 (only) of this standard the provisions are assigned to three levels in order to provide information on the relative priority of the provisions. This also provides harmonization with ISO 9241-171, which also assigns priority levels to provisions. ISO 9241-171 has two levels of provisions (SHALL and SHOULD). HFES 200.2 has three levels. Level 1 provisions in HFES 200.2 correspond to 9241-171 SHALL statements. Levels 2 and 3 provisions of HFES 200.2 correspond to 9241-171 SHOULD statements. Three (rather than two) levels were provided in HFES 200.2 to provide additional prioritization information for the large number of provisions beyond Level 1. In addition, some provisions were designated as level 3 provisions because they may be difficult or inappropriate to implement in some circumstances. It should be noted that provisions at all three levels are important to different individuals and that these provisions do not constitute all that can be done to make software more accessible to people with all types, degrees and combinations of disability.

Received on Wednesday, 24 February 2010 16:55:33 UTC