• Laws and regulations in Germany concerning usability
• ISO Standards for Usability
• User Interface Style Guides
• Test procedures for compliance testing with ISO Standards
• Design Guidelines for the Web

Laws and regulations in Germany concerning usability

In Germany three laws exist, which deal with minimum requirements for the usability of software products.

• Bildschirmarbeitsverordnung "BildscharbV""
• Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz - BGG
• Verordnung zur Schaffung barrierefreier Informationstechnik "BITV"

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Bildschirmarbeitsverordnung "BildscharbV" (1996)

This regulation transposes the European Council Directive (90/270/EEC) for computerized work places into German law. This Directive addresses the buyers of software products in their role as employers to adhere to certain minimum requirements. The European Council Directive has been transposed into national law in all member countries of the European Union, thereby establishing a harmonized level of quality of work places and equipment.
 
The German regulations for computerized work places contain the following minimum requirements (see annex of  BildscharbV, 1996). The text below is copied from the European Council Directive, which contains recommendations equivalent to the German regulations.

"In designing, selecting, commissioning and modifying software, and in designing tasks using display screen equipment, the employer shall take into account the following principles:

(a) software must be suitable for the task;

(b)  software must be easy to use and, where appropriate, adaptable to the  operator's level of knowledge or experience; no quantitative or qualitative  checking facility may be used without the knowledge of the workers;

(c) systems must provide feedback to workers on their performance;

(d) systems must display information in a format and at a pace which are adapted to operators;

(e) the principles of software ergonomics must be applied, in particular to human data processing."

Bildschirmarbeitsverordnung (official source text, German only!)

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Gesetz zur Gleichstellung behinderter Menschen "Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz - BGG" (2002)

The law contains regulations on how to make it possible for people with special needs to take part in the regular use of information technology, so as to provide for equal chances to all users of technology.

Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz (official source text, German only!)

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Verordnung zur Schaffung barrierefreier Informationstechnik nach dem Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz "BITV" (2002)

These regulations are intended for specifying the German law "Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz" to provide for barrier-free access to information technology, for instance,  access to the Internet. Recommendations of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) have been included in the law text.

Verordnung zur Schaffung barrierefreier Informationstechnik (official source text, German only!)