ISO 9241-125:2017 provides guidance for the visual presentation of information controlled by software, irrespective of the device. It includes specific properties such as the syntactic or semantic aspects of information, e.g. coding techniques, and gives provisions for the organization of information taking account of human perception and memory capabilities. Those of its provisions that do not apply to specific types of visual interfaces clearly indicate any limitations to their applicability. It does not address specific details of charts, graphs or information visualization.
ISO 9241-125:2017 can be utilized throughout the design process (e.g. as specification and guidance for designers during design or as a basis for heuristic evaluation). Its provisions for the presentation of information depend upon the visual design approach, the task, the user, the environment and the single or multiple technologies that might be used for presenting the information. Consequently, this document cannot be applied without knowledge of the context of use. It is not intended to be used as a prescriptive set of rules to be applied in its entirety but rather assumes that the designer has proper information available concerning task and user requirements and understands the use of available technology.
Some of the provisions of this document are based on Latin-based language usage and might not apply, or might need to be modified, for use with languages that use other alphabets. In applying those that assume a specific language base (e.g. alphabetic ordering of coding information, items in a list), it is important that care is taken to follow its intent of the standard when translation is required to a different language.
ISO 9241-125:2017 does not address auditory or tactile/haptic presentation of information or modality shifting for the presentation of visual information in other modalities.
NOTE ISO 9241‑112 provides high-level ergonomic guidance that applies to all modalities.
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