ISO 30071-1: Announcing a new international accessibility standard to help organisations embed inclusive design
We are delighted to announce that the new International Standard in Accessibility ISO 30071-1 has been published.
After having led the creation of British Standard BS 8878, which the new Standard adapts and extends, our CEO Jonathan Hassell led the international team of digital accessibility experts who created ISO 30071-1. This is part of our commitment to sharing our team’s accessibility expertise to have the greatest impact on accessibility globally.
ISO 30071-1 Code of practice for creating accessible ICT products and services is a process-oriented Standard enabling organisations to:
- understand why digital inclusion and accessibility makes good business sense
- embed accessibility responsibility strategically across key job-roles, and into key organisational and technical policies
- embed accessibility into the software development lifecycle process for their products to ensure the accessibility impact of key development decisions is not missed, and that accessibility is delivered in the most efficient way
- adopt an informed way of making and documenting these decisions to provide a log which can be used for monitoring accessibility risk and proving conformance with the Standard
- provide guidance on finding or researching detailed accessibility requirements for a wide range of digital products including: websites, mobile apps, VR/AR apps, smart speaker apps, kiosk apps, apps on in-flight and in-car entertainment systems, games on games consoles, and software in ATMs and Electronic Point of Sales systems
While other accessibility standards like WCAG concentrate on the technical, design or testing elements of accessibility, ISO 30071-1 puts those important activities in a framework to ensure all aspects of an organisation’s activities which impact accessibility & inclusion are covered. It helps organisations to make inclusive design part of their ‘business as usual’ by embedding accessibility considerations into:
- procurement and selection of production tools and CMSes
- outsourcing production to third-parties
- assessment of accessibility risk and impact on budgets
- governance of inclusion across a portfolio of evolving digital products
At Hassell Inclusion, we have been training and supporting digital teams in the use of the forerunner to ISO 30071-1, BS 8878, throughout the 9 years since its launch. Many of our insights from this experience have been incorporated in the new Standard to ensure it reflects the reality of digital production in 2019. So if you would like help with understanding and adopting the new Standard, please contact us.
For a comprehensive guide on what’s in the new Standard, how it builds on BS 8878, and how it could benefit your organisation, please go to ISO 30071-1: All you need to know
