International standards for HCI and usability

Over the last 15 years, a comprehensive range of international standards has been developed to define the general principles of user centred design and good practice in user interface design. Most of the standards specify general principles rather than the precise details of the interface. The paper briefly describes how standards are created and reviews the definitions of usability. HCI and usability standards are described in the categories: usability definitions, use in context, software interface and interaction, hardware interface, documentation, the development process and capability of the organisation. The applicability of the standards is discussed.