scope:

ISO 9241-125 provides requirements and recommendations for the visual presentation of information and specific properties such as the syntactic or semantic aspects of information, e.g. coding techniques. These requirements and recommendations can be utilised throughout the design process (e.g., as specification and guidance for designers during design or as a basis for heuristic evaluation). This International Standard applies to all visual user interfaces controlled by software. Requirements or recommendations that do not apply to all types of visual interfaces clearly indicate any limitations to their applicability. Presentation of information depends 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, ISO 9241-125 cannot be applied without knowledge of the context of use, and it is not intended to be used as a prescriptive set of rules to be applied in its entirety. Rather, it assumes that the designer has proper information available concerning task and user requirements and understands the use of available technology. Some of the requirements and recommendations in this International Standard are based on Latin-based language usage and might not apply, or might need to be modified, for use with a different language. In applying those requirements and recommendations 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 the intent of the standard when translation is required to a different language. ISO 9241-125 does not address auditory or tactile/ haptic presentation of information or modality shifting in order to present visual information in other modalities.