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 brie#y describes how standards are created and
reviews the de"nitions of usability. HCI and usability standards are described in the
categories: usability de"nitions, use in context, software interface and interaction, hardware
interface, documentation, the development process and capability of the organization.
The applicability of the standards is discussed.