scope:

This International Standard provides guidelines in the survey of user needs of persons with impaired seeing and hearing functions for assistive products and services. It was developed to meet the increasing demand for developing information on user needs of assistive products. Various methods and techniques have been developed for survey of user needs in market, opinion, and social survey. This document includes the methods relevant to survey user needs of assistive products.

In order to carry out a survey on persons with impaired sensory functions, communication shall be accessible to participants. The instructions and questions should be easily understandable by the participants and participants should be encouraged to express their replies. Accessibility requirements necessary for surveying persons with impaired sensory functions are addressed in this document. This document is mainly concerned with the assistive products devoted for persons with impaired sensory functions, but does not provide guidelines for including other types of disabilities like physical, mental or cognitive impairments.

This document includes a survey on assistive products and services when used by persons with reduced sensory functions.

Questions on the extent of the impairment and the context of use of assistive products are important, but questions concerning the personal situation and medical causes of persons with impaired sensory functions should not be part of the survey.

Impaired sensory functions in this document are mainly related to seeing, hearing impairments.