– Basic standards taking account of older persons and persons with disability established for tactile symbols and characters, font size, indicator lights, and spoken instructions –
Researcher:ITOH Nana, Leader, Behavior Informatics Design Group, Human Informatics and Interaction Research Institute
- Based on human sensory data, four ISO standards have been established for product design taking account of older persons and persons with disability.
- The full set of basic AIST accessible design standards is now available as international standards in the field of ergonomics.
- Standards contribute to widespread adoption of accessible design for easy understanding of tactile information, letters, indicator lights, and voice instruction.
Four established ISO standards for accessible design
Recently, the need for product, environment, and service designs that consider older persons and persons with disability has been recognized widely against the background of establishing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), Japan's Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (2013), and guidelines such as SDGs (2015) calling for a society free of discrimination. However, the development of basic techniques and numerical criteria to this end requires accurate understanding of various sensory and physical characteristics of persons in a wide age range.
Since the early 2000s, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has actively promoted the establishment of standards of "accessible design," which are design guidelines for accessibility which include consideration of older persons and persons with disability. In 2000, ISO/IEC adopted a policy statement on standardization addressing the needs of those people with special requirements. Led by Japan, ISO/IEC Guide 71: Guidelines for standards developers to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities was established in 2001.
Four standards for accessible design, bases of design guidelines for older persons and persons with disability have been developed. In 2019, the standards were established as ISO standards: 1 – Guidelines for designing tactile symbols and characters; 2 – A method for estimating minimum legible font size for people at any age; 3 – Indicator lights on consumer products; and 4 – Spoken instructions of consumer products.
With the establishment of these standards, a series of basic product design techniques is available that includes consideration of older persons and persons with disability. Existing domestic measurement databases compiled by AIST were used for standardization. For necessary international comparison of sensory characteristics under uniform conditions, AIST has led international research with the collaboration of related organizations in the United States, Germany, South Korea, China, and Thailand.
As guidelines in product design with older persons and persons with disability in mind, the standards are expected to accelerate the widespread adoption of accessible design.