ISO 9241 Ergonomic Requirements for Office Work with Visual Display Terminals (VDTs)

The “ISO 9241 Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs)” standard, published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), consists of the following sub-sections published under the same title:

• The “ISO 9241-1 Part 1: General Introduction” standard provides the following:
• It introduces a multi-part standard regarding ergonomic requirements for the use of visual display terminals in office tasks.
• It provides guidelines for a user performance approach.
• This provides an overview of all sections of the ISO 9241 standard and the expected content for those in preparation.
• It provides some guidance on how to use the ISO 9241 standard.
• This explains how to report compliance with the ISO 9241 standard.

For the purposes of the ISO 9241 standard, office tasks are addressed to include a wide variety of general text and data processing tasks. Because of the similarity of these tasks to those performed in other settings such as medical, scientific, telecommunications, control rooms, and public access, many of the ISO 9241 requirements are also applicable to these environments.

However, the ISO 9241 standard does not cover the electrical safety of visual display terminals. This topic falls under the IEC 950 standard.

The ergonomic requirements for flat panel displays are addressed in ISO 13406-1 and ISO 13406-2 standards. For more comprehensive guidance on human-centered design for interactive systems, ISO 13407 applies.

• The ISO 9241-2 Part 2: Guidance on Task Requirements standard provides guidance to users of visual display terminal-based computing systems regarding office tasks. This guidance applies to both the organization implementing the system and the individuals using the equipment. The guidance should be implemented in accordance with local, regional, or national agreements and regulations.

The aim of this standard is to improve the productivity and well-being of the individual user by applying ergonomic knowledge to task design in light of practical experience. The relevant ergonomic principles are included in the ISO 6385 standard.

The characteristics and control, workplace and environmental requirements of the visual display are specified in other sections of the ISO 9241 standard. This standard does not address software and dialogue design.

• The standard “ISO 9241-3 Part 3: Visual display requirements” has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO 9241-302, ISO 9241-303, ISO 9241-304, ISO 9241-305, ISO 9241-307 and ISO 9241-311 standards.
• The “ISO 9241-4 Part 4: Keyboard requirements” standard has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO 9241-400 and ISO 9241-411 standards.
• The standard “ISO 9241-5 Part 5: Workstation layout and posture requirements” describes ergonomic guidelines applicable to the user requirements, design, and supply of workstation equipment for use with interactive systems with visual displays. The general principles and requirements specified in this standard are particularly applicable to standards that define the technical design of furniture and equipment that constitute the workplace. These standards are intended for use by product and workstation designers and implementers.
• The ISO 9241-6 Part 6: Guidance on the Working Environment standard provides guidance on the basic principles of ergonomic design of the working environment and workstation, taking into account lighting, noise and mechanical vibration effects, electric and magnetic fields and static electricity, thermal environment, spatial organization and workplace layout. This standard applies to working environments and workstations in work systems using visual display terminals for office work. However, this standard does not specify the technical specifications of the equipment required to meet the guidelines related to working environment equipment.
• The standard “ISO 9241-7 Part 7: Imaging requirements with reflections” has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO 9241-302, ISO 9241-303, ISO 9241-305 and ISO 9241-307 standards.
• The standard “ISO 9241-8 Part 8: Requirements for displayed colours” has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO 9241-302, ISO 9241-303 and ISO 9241-305 standards.
• The standard “ISO 9241-9 Part 9: Requirements for non-keyboard input devices” has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO 9241-400 and ISO 9241-411 standards.
• The standard “ISO 9241-10 Part 10: Principles of Dialogue” has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO 9241-110.
• The standard “ISO 9241-11 Part 11: Usability: Definitions and Concepts” provides a framework for understanding the concept of usability and applying it to situations where people use interactive systems, other types of systems (including built environments), products (including industrial and consumer products), and services (including technical and personal services). In this standard, the term "subject of interest" refers to the system, product, or service for which usability is being evaluated.

This standard

• It explains that usability is a result of usage.
• It defines fundamental terms and concepts.
• It establishes the fundamentals of usability.
• It explains the application of the usability concept.

It does not describe specific processes or methods for considering usability in design development or evaluation.

Target users of this standard are:

• Usability/ergonomics/human factors experts.
• System, product, and service designers and developers.
• Quality assurance personnel.
• Public and institutional buyers.
• Consumer organizations.

The most common applications of this standard are in design and evaluation.

• The standard “ISO 9241-12 Part 12: Presentation of Information” has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO 9241-125.
• The standard “ISO 9241-13 Part 13: User manual” has been withdrawn and replaced by the ISO 9241-130 standard.
• The ISO 9241-14 Part 14: Menu Dialogues standard provides conditional recommendations for menus used in user-computer dialogues to perform typical office tasks. These recommendations cover menus presented using various techniques, including windowing, panels, buttons, and fields. These recommendations can be used throughout the design process (e.g., to guide designers during the design phase, to provide a basis for heuristic evaluation, or as a guide for usability testing).

Interface design depends on the task, user, environment, and available technology. Therefore, the ISO 9241-14 standard cannot be applied without knowledge of the design and usage context of the interface and is not intended to be used as a set of rules to be applied outright. Rather, it assumes that the designer has sufficient knowledge of the task and user requirements and understands the use of the available technology (this may require consulting a qualified ergonomics expert as well as experimental testing with real users).

• The standard “ISO 9241-15 Part 15: Command dialogues” has been withdrawn.
• The standard “ISO 9241-16 Part 16: Direct manipulation dialogues” has been withdrawn.
• The standard “ISO 9241-17 Part 17: Form completion dialogues” has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO 9241-143.

In this standard series, the following sub-sections were later developed under the title "ISO 9241 Ergonomics of human-system interaction":

• The standard “ISO 9241-20 Part 20: An ergonomic approach to accessibility within the scope of the ISO 9241 series” provides the following:
• An introduction to the importance of accessibility in human-system interaction.
• Discussion of the relationship between the principles in the ISO 9241 series and accessibility.
• Descriptions of activities related to processes in the ISO 9241-210 standard, which focuses on accessibility.
• References to standards related to the accessibility of interactive systems.
• The ISO 9241-110 Part 110: Interaction Principles standard describes the principles of interaction between a user and a system in general terms (i.e., regardless of usage, application, environment, or technology). This standard provides a framework for applying these interaction principles and general design recommendations for interactive systems.

While this standard applies to all types of interactive systems, it does not cover the specifics of every application area (e.g., security-critical systems, collaborative work, artificial intelligence features). This standard is aimed at the following audiences:

• Requirements analysts (including market requirements, user requirements, and system requirements)
• User interface development tools and style guides for use by user interface designers and developers.
• User interface designers will apply the guide during design activities (either directly through training or using tools and style guides that include the guide).
• Developers who will implement the guide throughout the development process.
• Evaluators are responsible for ensuring that products meet the general design recommendations set out in this document.
• Buyers will refer to this document in contracts during product procurement.

This standard focuses on interaction principles related to the design of interactions between the user and the interactive system. The ISO 9241-112 standard provides further guidance on information presentation. This standard does not address any other aspects of design, such as marketing, aesthetics, or corporate identity.

• The standard “ISO 9241-112 Part 112: Principles for the Presentation of Information” describes ergonomic design principles for interactive systems involving software-controlled information presentation by user interfaces. This standard applies to the three main methods typically used in information and communication technologies (visual, auditory, tactile, or haptic). These principles are relevant to the perception and understanding of the information presented. These principles are applicable to the analysis, design, and evaluation of interactive systems. The standard also provides recommendations corresponding to these principles. The recommendations for each principle are not exhaustive and are not independent of each other.

While this standard applies to all types of interactive systems, it does not cover the specific characteristics of certain application areas that require context-specific recommendations. This standard also applies to interactive system outputs (e.g., printed documents and common computer formats (e.g., PDF, text and spreadsheet formats)).

• The standard “ISO 9241-125 Part 125: Guidance on the visual presentation of information” provides guidance on the visual presentation of information controlled by software, regardless of the device. This standard includes specific features such as syntactic or semantic aspects of information, such as encoding techniques, and offers provisions for organizing information taking into account human perception and memory capabilities. Provisions that do not apply to specific types of visual interfaces explicitly state the limitations on their applicability.
• The standard “ISO 9241-129 Part 129: Guidance on Software Personalization” provides ergonomic guidance on personalization in interactive systems. This guidance includes recommendations on where personalization may or may not be appropriate and how it should be implemented. It focuses on personalizing the software user interface to meet the needs of users as individuals or members of a specific group. It does not recommend specific applications of personalization mechanisms. It provides guidance on how various aspects of personalization can be made usable and accessible, but it does not specify which personalizations should be included in a system.
• The ISO 9241-130 Part 130: User Assistance in Interactive Systems standard provides requirements and recommendations regarding user assistance, its nature, use, and guidance on how to use it. This standard deals with the software components of interactive systems to make human-system interaction usable in terms of its most basic interaction aspects.

This standard provides a list of general user assistance guidelines, independent of a specific visualization and implementation technology. It offers guidance and recommendations on the selection, use, and dependencies of user assistance, and its implementation in various contexts. It does not provide detailed information on the methods and techniques required for the design and implementation of user assistance.

• The “ISO 9241-143 Forms” standard describes the requirements and recommendations for the design and evaluation of forms where a user fills in inputs, selects inputs, or modifies labeled fields in a form or dialog box presented by a system. The system typically generates or updates data associated with the form. Form-based inputs are usually in the form of written inputs (abbreviations or full names) or selections from existing lists of options. This standard applies to forms regardless of the format in which they are created (visual, spatial, audio). However, a large part of the guidelines is based on the visual and spatial relationship model.
• The standard “ISO 9241-151 Part 151: Guidance on Worldwide Network User Interfaces” has been withdrawn.
• The ISO 9241-171 Part 171: Guidance on software accessibility standard describes ergonomic guidelines and specifications for the design of accessible software for use in the workplace, home, education, and public spaces. This standard covers issues related to the design of accessible software for people with the widest range of physical, sensory, and cognitive abilities, including those with temporary disabilities and the elderly.

This standard aims to increase the usability of systems for a wider user base. While it does not cover the behavior or requirements of assistive technologies (including assistive software), it addresses the use of assistive technologies as an integrated component of interactive systems. This standard is intended for use by those responsible for the identification, design, development, evaluation, and procurement of software platforms and software applications.

• The ISO 9241-210 Part 210: Human-Centered Design for Interactive Systems standard describes the requirements and recommendations for human-centered design principles and activities throughout the lifecycle of computer-based interactive systems. This standard is designed for use by those managing design processes and addresses how both the hardware and software components of interactive systems can enhance human-system interaction.
• The standard “ISO 9241-300 Part 300: Introduction to Electronic Visual Display Requirements” serves as an introduction to the ISO 9241 “300” sub-series, describing its modular structure. The ISO 9241 “300” sub-series specifies requirements for the ergonomic design of electronic visual displays. These requirements are defined as performance specifications aimed at providing effective and comfortable viewing conditions for users with normal or normal vision. Test methods and metrology are presented, providing conformity measurements and criteria for design evaluation.
• The standard “ISO 9241-302 Part 302: Terminology for electronic visual displays” provides comprehensive terminology for electronic visual displays and explains the terms and definitions used in other parts of the ISO 9241 standard.
• The standard “ISO 9241-303 Part 303: Requirements for electronic visual displays” sets out image quality requirements for electronic visual displays and provides guidelines. These are presented as general performance characteristics and recommendations that ensure effective and comfortable viewing conditions for users with normal or normal vision, regardless of technology, task, or environment.

This standard does not address accessibility issues for disabled individuals. However, it considers various aspects of vision in older individuals and may be valuable for those dealing with visual impairment issues in specific situations: Identifying basic characteristics for normal viewing can be used to measure the severity of different visual impairments in order to determine appropriate solutions.

• The standard “ISO 9241-304 Part 304: User Performance Test Methods for Electronic Displays” provides guidance on evaluating the visual ergonomics of display technologies using user performance test methods. Using this part will help ensure that a display meets minimum visual ergonomics requirements in a specific usage context. This standard covers only visual features and does not address the ergonomics or usability of the entire product housing the display.

The general principles set forth in this standard apply to all color or monochrome visual displays connected to a system with which people interact. This includes, but is not limited to, visual displays used in desktop and portable computers, those used in mobile devices such as cell phones, digital cameras, and personal digital assistants, and status displays used in consumer electronics equipment such as printers, in-car navigation systems, and microwave ovens.

• The standard “ISO 9241-305 Part 305: Optical laboratory test methods for electronic display screens” describes optical testing and expert observation methods to be used in predicting the performance of a screen in accordance with the ergonomic requirements given in the ISO 9241-303 standard.
• The standard “ISO 9241-306 Part 306: Field evaluation methods for electronic display screens” describes optical, geometric, and visual inspection methods for evaluating a screen in various usage contexts according to the ISO 9241-303 standard.
• The standard “ISO 9241-307 Part 307: Analysis and Compatibility Test Methods for Electronic Displays” describes test methods for the analysis of various visual display technologies, their functions, and environments. This standard utilizes the measurement procedures of ISO 9241-305 and the general requirements of ISO 9241-303 to define compliance pathways appropriate to different technologies and intended uses.
• The standard “ISO 9241-308 Part 308: Surface conductive electron emitting screens (SED)” has been withdrawn.
• The standard “ISO 9241-309 Part 309: Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays” describes the guidelines for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays.
• The standard “ISO 9241-310 Part 310: Visibility, Aesthetics and Ergonomics of Pixel Defects” provides a summary of the existing knowledge regarding ergonomic requirements for pixel defects in electronic displays at the time of its publication. It also provides guidance on identifying pixel defects, visibility thresholds, and aesthetic requirements for pixel defects. While it does not explicitly specify requirements related to pixel defects, it is anticipated that this information may be used in the revision of other parts of the ISO 9241 series.
• The standard “ISO 9241-311 Part 311: Application of ISO 9241-307: LCD displays for workstations” provides information on the technical specifications of liquid crystal display (LCD) screens in indoor visual display workstations, in accordance with the ISO 9241-307 standard. The information is generally limited to LCD screens used in workstations. This information is intended to support managerial decision-makers responsible for purchasing visual displays (e.g., procurement operators, company safety committees, occupational health and safety specialists).
• The standard “ISO 9241-400 Part 400: Principles and requirements for physical input devices” describes guidelines for physical input devices for interactive systems. This standard provides ergonomic guidance for the following input devices: keyboards, mice, discs, joysticks, trackballs, trackpads, tablets and skins, touchscreens, styluses, pens, voice-controlled devices, and motion-controlled devices.

This standard defines and formulates ergonomic principles applicable to the design and use of input devices. These principles are used to create recommendations for the design and use of products. This standard defines the relevant terms for the entire “400” series of the ISO 9241 standard. For some applications, for example in areas where safety is of paramount importance, other additional principles may apply and may take precedence according to the guidance given here.

• The standard “ISO 9241-410 Part 410: Design criteria for physical input devices” describes ergonomic criteria for the design of physical input devices for interactive systems, including keyboards, mice, discs, joysticks, trackballs, trackpads, tablets and overlays, touchscreens, styluses and pens, and voice and motion-controlled devices.

This standard provides guidance on the design of these devices, taking into account the capabilities and limitations of users, and sets out general design criteria for physical input devices as well as specific criteria for each device type. Product design requirements are determined through context-independent assessments or may be based on specified design criteria for the intended use; these specified criteria are generally, where appropriate, divided into task-oriented categories.

• The standard “ISO 9241-411 Part 411: Assessment methods for the design of physical input devices” specifies assessment methods for the design of physical input devices for interactive systems. Guidance is provided for laboratory assessment of conformity to the ISO 9241-410 standard for keyboards, mice, discs, joysticks, trackballs, touchpads, tablets/overlays, touchscreens, and styluses/pencils. The provisions of this standard apply only to keyboards defined by the manufacturer as full-size or compact, but it can still provide useful guidance in the design of other keyboards.
• The ISO 9241-920 Part 920: Haptic Interactions standard describes the requirements and recommendations for haptic hardware and software interactions. This standard provides guidance on the design and selection of hardware, software, and combinations of hardware/software interactions. These include:
• The design or use of tactile inputs, outputs, or combinations of inputs and outputs, general guidance on their design or use, and the design or use of combinations of tactile and haptic interaction, either in conjunction with other methods or as the sole mode of interaction.
• Haptic encoding of information, including textual data, graphical data, and controls.
• Design of tactile objects.
• The layout of the tactile field.
• Interaction techniques.

For many years, our organization, with its competent and experienced staff, has been understanding the needs of its clients, providing the advanced testing services they require, and assisting them in the establishment, implementation, and improvement of management systems. Within this framework, we also provide testing services in accordance with the ISO 9241 standard series.