Abstract
“Accessible design” is an emerging design method of products, services and environments.
It takes into account special requirements of older persons and persons with disabilities in
the design process and, thereby, maximizes the number of their potential users. In the design process,
ergonomic knowledge and human-ability/characteristic data of those target users play a crucial
role. This paper reviews the development of accessible-design methods in a variety of fields such as
user-interface design of consumer products and shows how ergonomic knowledge and data can be
used effectively. It also focuses on relevant activities of international standardization in Technical
Committee 159 “Ergonomics” of International Organization for Standardization.
