ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007

TECHNICAL ISO/IEC
REPORT TR
19765
First edition
2007-07-01

Information technology — Survey of
icons and symbols that provide access to
functions and facilities to improve the
use of information technology products
by the elderly and persons with
disabilities
Technologies de l'information — Vue d'ensemble des symboles et des
icônes fournissant un accès aux fonctions et aux équipements pour
améliorer l'utilisation des produits des technologies de l'information par
les personnes âgées et les personnes avec un handicap




Reference number
ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2007

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007(E)
PDF disclaimer
This PDF file may contain embedded typefaces. In accordance with Adobe's licensing policy, this file may be printed or viewed but
shall not be edited unless the typefaces which are embedded are licensed to and installed on the computer performing the editing. In
downloading this file, parties accept therein the responsibility of not infringing Adobe's licensing policy. The ISO Central Secretariat
accepts no liability in this area.
Adobe is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Details of the software products used to create this PDF file can be found in the General Info relative to the file; the PDF-creation
parameters were optimized for printing. Every care has been taken to ensure that the file is suitable for use by ISO member bodies. In
the unlikely event that a problem relating to it is found, please inform the Central Secretariat at the address given below.


COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT


©  ISO/IEC 2007
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from either ISO at the address below or
ISO's member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
Case postale 56 • CH-1211 Geneva 20
Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11
Fax + 41 22 749 09 47
E-mail copyright@iso.org
Web www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland

ii © ISO/IEC 2007 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007(E)
Contents Page
Foreword. iv
Introduction . v
1 Scope . 1
2 Terms and definitions. 1
3 Collection of icons and symbols. 3
3.1 Presentation of icons and symbols . 3
3.2 General icons and symbols . 3
3.2.1 Accessibility options – software. 3
3.2.2 Facility for disabled users – ICTA international symbol of access . 4
3.2.3 General facilities for the deaf and hard of hearing. 4
3.3 Input methods . 5
3.3.1 General. 5
3.3.2 Keyboard . 5
3.3.3 Pointing device . 9
3.3.4 Handwriting . 12
3.3.5 Audio. 13
3.4 Output methods . 15
3.4.1 Audio. 15
3.4.2 Visual . 19
3.5 Telephony . 25
3.5.1 Input and output. 25
3.5.2 Output – audio. 26
Bibliography . 28

© ISO/IEC 2007 – All rights reserved iii

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of
ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees
established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC
technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental
and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information
technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as
an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
In exceptional circumstances, the joint technical committee may propose the publication of a Technical Report
of one of the following types:
— type 1, when the required support cannot be obtained for the publication of an International Standard,
despite repeated efforts;
— type 2, when the subject is still under technical development or where for any other reason there is the
future but not immediate possibility of an agreement on an International Standard;
— type 3, when the joint technical committee has collected data of a different kind from that which is
normally published as an International Standard (“state of the art”, for example).
Technical Reports of types 1 and 2 are subject to review within three years of publication, to decide whether
they can be transformed into International Standards. Technical Reports of type 3 do not necessarily have to
be reviewed until the data they provide are considered to be no longer valid or useful.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/IEC TR 19765, which is a Technical Report of type 3, was prepared by Joint Technical Committee
ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee SC 35, User interfaces.
iv © ISO/IEC 2007 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007(E)
Introduction
Advances in information technology have promoted the use of information technology products as a
necessary element of an individual's daily life. It is therefore very important to make this technology accessible
to everyone, especially to disabled and elderly people. These consumers need specific icons and symbols to
enable them to access special facilities and functions to compensate for their disabilities and to give them
confidence to use the various services made available through information and communications technology
product development.
Increasing numbers of people, especially elderly and disabled, have problems using personal computers and
the Internet for services, e.g. postal and banking services. It is essential to make the producers of these
services aware of this, and to record and provide existing symbols and icons especially configured for use by
disabled and elderly people.
This Technical Report resulted from a survey of icons and symbols currently used to provide access to
facilities and tools to support the needs of elderly and disabled users of information technology (IT) products.
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) do not in any way endorse, recommend or dissuade the use of any of the icons and symbols
presented in this Technical Report.
© ISO/IEC 2007 – All rights reserved v

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
TECHNICAL REPORT ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007(E)

Information technology — Survey of icons and symbols that
provide access to functions and facilities to improve the use of
information technology products by the elderly and persons
with disabilities
1 Scope
Different users of information technology products possess different sets of abilities. Some abilities may not
ever be present in a user as they may have been born without them. Some abilities are acquired, developed
or deteriorate over time due to education, maturity, injury, illness or age. Just as it is possible that a user
possesses a combination of abilities, it is also possible that they may lack a combination of abilities.
This Technical Report presents icons and symbols currently used to provide access to facilities and tools to
support the needs of elderly and disabled users of information technology (IT) products, and could form the
basis of a future International Standard which would provide a recommended collection of icons and symbols.
These icons and symbols have been collected from a variety of sources including other standards,
contemporary software products, web sites and hardware devices. These sources are cross-referenced and
listed in the Bibliography.
The icons and symbols presented here are categorized by modality and method of use.
NOTE 1 ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) do not in any way endorse, recommend or dissuade the use of any of the icons and symbols presented in
this Technical Report.
NOTE 2 The icon and symbol designs reproduced in this Technical Report remain the property of the source owners
and may not be directly copied into IT products without the permission of the source owners.
2 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
2.1
closed captioning
viewer-selected display of dialogue, narration and sound effects of a video programme as words on a
television screen
cf. open captioning (2.7)
NOTE Unlike subtitled movies, closed captioning allows the viewer to select whether or not to display the captions
that are transmitted within the broadcast signal in encoded (or closed) form. A decoder built into or attached to a television
set is used to “open” the captions and display the words on the television screen.
[National Captioning Institute [7]]
2.2
electrical coupling
transmission of information from one device to another through a direct electrical connection
[ETSI EN 301 462 v1.1.1 (2000-03)[1]]
© ISO/IEC 2007 – All rights reserved 1

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007(E)
2.3
filter key
logical setting that enables brief or repeated key strokes to be ignored or slows the keystroke input repeat rate
2.4
inductive coupling
loop
transmission of information from one device to another via a wireless connection
2.5
mouse
commonly used pointing device that contains one or more buttons with which a user can interact with a
computer system
EXAMPLE Using a mouse button, a user can select objects or choices, initiate actions, or directly manipulate objects.
2.6
numeric keypad
physical grouping of keys, containing numbers, in a block on a computer keyboard
NOTE The numeric keypad typically contains cursor control keys and is located on the right side of a computer
keyboard.
2.7
open captioning
constant display of dialogue, narration and sound effects of a video programme as words on a television
screen
c.f. closed captioning (2.1)
NOTE Similar to subtitled movies, open captioning constantly presents text information to the viewer.
2.8
pointer icon
icon that is logically attached to a physical input device, and that the user manipulates to interact with other
screen elements
[ISO/IEC 11581-1:2000]
NOTE For further information on pointer icons, see ISO/IEC 11581-3:2000.
2.9
serial key device
device used to input data in sequential order
EXAMPLE Computer keyboard.
2.10
sign
“words” of a sign language produced by actions of the hands, arms, torso, face and head that produce signals
perceived visually
NOTE 1 Sign languages are not universal; they have developed spontaneously and independently within communities
of deaf users all over the world.
NOTE 2 For deaf-blind singers, a sign language is perceived through touch.
2.11
signing
convention of gestures (“signs”) used instead of speaking to convey information
2 © ISO/IEC 2007 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007(E)
2.12
sticky key
logical setting that enables sequentially pressed keyboard keystrokes combined as a single input
2.13
telecommunications terminal
point at which data can either enter or leave a system or communications network
NOTE In data communications, a telecommunications terminal is a device, usually equipped with a keyboard and
display device, capable of sending and receiving information.
3 Collection of icons and symbols
3.1 Presentation of icons and symbols
Throughout this clause, and where appropriate, the icons and symbols are displayed upon a squared grid
(icons) or upon a matrix (standardized symbols). In addition, the icons are also displayed approximately actual
size alongside the enlarged (and gridded) version.
3.2 General icons and symbols
3.2.1 Accessibility options – software
Primary domain: IT software & hardware.
Function: Provides access to a suite of functions and utilities which enable the customization of the software
and hardware to best support the abilities of the disabled user.
Graphics:


© ISO/IEC 2007 – All rights reserved 3

---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------
ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007(E)
Sources: Top row: Microsoft Windows 2000® [3] (left), Windows XP® [3] (Centre). Bottom row: Apple Mac
OS X [11] (right). IBM ThinkPad® [12].
NOTE These are examples of icons currently in use and not ISO/IEC recommendations.
3.2.2 Facility for disabled users – ICTA international symbol of access
Function: Identifies a facility with special provisions available for disabled users.
Graphic:

Source: International Commission on Technology and Accessibility [5].
NOTE This symbol is registered with ISO.
3.2.3 General facilities for the deaf and hard of hearing
Primary domain: Hardware, telecommunications.
Function: To enable access to general facilities and functions.
Graphics:

Sources: Left: ETSI EN 301 462 v1.1.1 (2000-03), graphical symbol number 1 [1]. Right: International
Commission on Technology and Accessibility (ICTA), International Symbol of Deafness [5].
NOTE 1 This symbol is considered to be culturally unacceptable by the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, due to
the negative connotations of the diagonal “prohibition” line across an ear. The use of symbols that indicate specific access
services in a positive manner are encouraged. A good example is the TTY symbol (3.4.1.2), as opposed to misusing the
symbol shown above to represent various distinct accommodations (e.g. inductive coupling, electrical coupling, etc.).
NOTE 2 These are examples of symbols currently in use and not ISO/IEC recommendations.
4 © ISO/IEC 2007 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 9 ----------------------
ISO/IEC TR 19765:2007(E)
3.3 Input methods
3.3.1 General
Primary domain: Hardware.
Function: Enables the setting of alternative input methods: handwriting recognition, keyboard input or voice
recognition.
Graphic:

Source: Microsoft Windows 2000® [3].
NOTE This is an example of an icon currently in use and not an ISO/IEC recommendation.
3.3.2 Keyboard
3.3.2.1 Keyboard input
Primary domain: Hardware.
Function: Enables the user to select the keyboard method to input text.
Graphic:

Source: Microsoft Windows 2000® [3].
NOTE This is an example of an icon currently in use and not an ISO/IEC recommendation.
© ISO/IEC 2007 – All rights reserved 5

---------------------- Page: 10 ----
...