ANSI/HFES 200 Contents:
ANSI/HFES 200 Contents Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Software Accessibility – new technical material, extensively harmonized with ISO 9241-171
Part 3: Interaction Techniques – consists of approved guidelines from ISO 9241 Parts 12-17 with additional material and refinements
Part 4: Interactive Voice Response – consists of established best practices with additional accessibility provisions, including TTY recommendations
Part 5: Visual Presentation and Use of Color – incorporates ISO 9214 Part 12 (Visual Presentation) with new material addressing color coding and related topics
ANSI/HFES 200 Status:
ANSI/HFES 200 Status HFES 200 Project initiated under ANSI procedures in 1993
Focus during 1993-2000 was on contributing to ongoing ISO 9241 (Parts 9 thru 17) Software Ergonomics standards development
ANSI/HFES 200 was released as a Draft Standard for Trial Use (DSTU) under ANSI procedures in July, 2003
ANSI/HFES 200 Canvass Committee formed under ANSI Procedures in 2Q 2006 (Three Interest categories: Producers, Users, and General)
ANSI/HFES 200 document distributed in late July, 2006 for ballot and comments to Canvass Committee
ANSI/HFES 200 Outlook:
ANSI/HFES 200 Outlook Ballots and comments are due to be received by the HFES 200 Technical Standards Committee on September 30, 2006
It is expected that most comments will pertain to new material in Part 2: Software Accessibility
ANSI procedures require a 2nd ballot if there are any substantive change to a technical recommendation
A 2nd ballot would occur after processing and responding to all comment. Best estimate would be early 2007.
ANSI/HFES 200 Issues:
ANSI/HFES 200 Issues Technical issues raised in comments
Requiring time to respond to including changes to the technical provisions
Coordination of ANSI/HFES 200 and ISO 9241-171
HFES Strategic Objective: establish Human Factors Engineering principles and best practices in industry standards, and as part of this strategy, HFES 200 aims to improve software usability and accessibility
Finding the balance between what is effective in meeting the needs of consumers and what is possible given the constraints of industry
Conformance is not expected to be a issue since there are no mandatory requirements, only optional recommendations