Overview
ISO 6273:2024 - Assistive products - Accessibility guidelines and requirements to survey the needs of persons with sensory disabilities for assistive products and services provides targeted guidance for planning and conducting accessible surveys of people with sensory disabilities related to seeing and hearing. The standard sets out principles, methods and documentation requirements for assessing user needs for assistive products and services. It expressly excludes guidance for physical, mental or cognitive disabilities and focuses on commonly used survey methods for user-needs assessment.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Scope and terminology: Defines key terms such as accessibility, assistive product, participant, questionnaire, interview and focus group to ensure consistent use in surveys.
- Accessibility of surveys: Requirements for managing survey projects, planning, documenting processes, designing data-collection instruments and pre-tests, participant recruitment, and complaints handling.
- Types of data: Guidance on collecting and managing quantitative and qualitative data, including considerations for accuracy, effectiveness and efficiency.
- Data collection methods: Practical requirements for accessible questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups - formats, open/closed questions, and interviewer/moderator roles.
- User needs assessment: Procedures to identify needs relating to existing assistive products (performance gaps, usability issues) and to inform development of new assistive products.
- Accessibility principles: Applies the perceivable, operable, understandable and robust (POUR) principles to survey instruments and interactions with participants who have sensory impairments.
- Ethics and consent: Summarizes accessible communication, informed consent and privacy considerations relevant to surveying people with sensory disabilities.
Practical applications and users
ISO 6273 is intended for:
- Manufacturers and designers of assistive products seeking user-centred requirements.
- Policy makers and procurement teams that need reliable user-needs data for policy and purchasing decisions.
- Researchers and market analysts conducting surveys, usability studies or needs assessments involving people with visual or hearing impairments.
- Accessibility professionals and user groups who design accessible surveys and engagement processes.
Common uses:
- Designing accessible questionnaires and interview protocols.
- Recruiting and running accessible focus groups.
- Informing product requirements, usability improvements and service design for people with sensory disabilities.
- Ensuring ethical, inclusive data collection and documentation.
Related standards
ISO 6273 references and aligns with terminology and concepts in other ISO documents (e.g., ISO 9241‑11, ISO 20252, ISO 9999, ISO 11136, ISO 16439) for usability, survey practices and assistive product classification.
Keywords: ISO 6273, assistive products, sensory disabilities, accessibility guidelines, surveying user needs, questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, perceivable operable understandable robust.
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