Standards Development

Scope

This part will define some core accessibility metadata terms to be used in resource descriptions and user requirement descriptions. It will also specify how more terms can be added for greater specificity.

Purpose

The accessibility metadata terms proposed will enable standard descriptions of the characteristics of resources and the corresponding accessibility needs and preferences of users. Very few resources are accessible to everyone so it has become clear that the description of characteristics of the available accessible components of resources and the corresponding description of a user’s individual accessibility needs and preferences will enable many more suitable resources being delivered to users. This follows the lead of a new approach in this field set within ISO/IEC by the first version of ISO/IEC 24751, now recognised internationally for instance by schema.org, and the important ISO/IEC 19788 Metadata for Learning Resources standard.

Currently, when describing resources, there is a need for a standard way of expressing the accessibility facilities of those resources and, for users, there is no standard way to describe what they can use, and therefore their access requirements. The terms proposed will be core terms from which extensions can be developed as needed. The core terms, and others derived from them, will conform to the ISO/IEC 19788 Metadata for Learning Resources standard and thus be interoperable with those descriptions and many others (assured by the interoperability of MLR conforming terms). They will enable discovery and delivery of resources according to accessibility requirements as expressed by users, thus enabling an accessibility service where such is required to enable inclusion of all users, especially those with disabilities.

The proposal is for the formal definition of terms that have been deployed successfully in recent years in various form but which currently do not conform to the ISO/IEC 19788 Metadata for Learning Resources standard. It will also enable the promotion of the provision of accessibility metadata by both resource providers and users.