Introduction
Human Factors is the scientific application of knowledge about the capacities and limitations of users with the aim of making products, systems, services and environments safe, efficient and easy to use.
The growing complexity of telecommunications services and equipment makes the human element more and more important. Human Factors is a key factor for the commercial success of any telecommunications product or service. However, currently a large portion of the population does not benefit from all information society’s opportunities. It follows that technology barriers need to be removed to ensure the access to products and services for the largest possible population.
ETSI is helping to achieve this objective in technical committee Human Factors (HF) by producing ETSI Standards, Guides and Reports to promote e-accessibility. Accessibility can be promoted by Design for All approach where products are designed to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for specialized adaptation. For example, security aspects and personalization of the way users connect with products are critical in achieving eInclusion and eAccessibility. The goal is to enter a new era of ICT where services and devices can be personalized to meet the needs of every user, and not only those of the majority.
Our Role & Activities
Our Technical Committee Human Factors (TC HF) champions the importance of ensuring that developments in technology are usable and accessible to all people in society, including the elderly, the young and those with disabilities.
Adopting a ‘Design for All’ approach in product and standards development helps ensure that everyone has effective access to devices, systems and services. By widening access, it also enables companies to meet the needs of many more users, thus improving their competitive position in global markets.
One major goal is to identify emerging user interaction technologies, to look for factors that could cause problems for certain users in some situations, and to identify solutions. More detail of our standardisation activities is provided on the HF committee page.
Standards
A full list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the HF committee page.