ETSI TR 103 335 V1.1.1 (2017-04)

Emergency Communications (EMTEL); Guidelines for alert message content accessibility

Alert messages need to be presented to users affected by possible alerts in a way that they can be readily understood and required actions can be taken. It is obvious that the presentation of these alert messages needs to be fully accessible for the largest possible user community, including people with specific requirements and elderly people with multiple impairments. The proposed Technical Report will summarize guidelines and good practice proposals to the design process of the user interface for the presentation of alert message on a wide range of end user devices in a fully accessible manner. SC EMTEL and TC HF will work in close cooperation to produce this TR.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 03-Apr-2017
• Technical Committee: EMTEL - Emergency Communications
• Current Stage: 12 - Completion
• Due Date: 23-Apr-2017
• Completion Date: 04-Apr-2017

Standards Content (Sample)

ETSI TR 103 335 V1.1.1 (2017-04)






TECHNICAL REPORT
Emergency Communications (EMTEL);
Guidelines for alert message content accessibility

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2 ETSI TR 103 335 V1.1.1 (2017-04)



Reference
DTR/EMTEL-00033
Keywords
accessibility, usability

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3 ETSI TR 103 335 V1.1.1 (2017-04)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 4
Foreword . 4
Modal verbs terminology . 4
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 References . 5
2.1 Normative references . 5
2.2 Informative references . 5
3 Definitions and abbreviations . 6
3.1 Definitions . 6
3.2 Abbreviations . 6
4 Accessibility Scenarios. 6
4.1 General . 6
4.2 Emergency situation description . 6
4.3 Personae description . 6
4.4 Alerting scenarios . 8
4.5 Remarks on alerting scenarios . 9
5 Guidelines for Presentation of Alert Messages . 9
History . 11


ETSI

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4 ETSI TR 103 335 V1.1.1 (2017-04)
Intellectual Property Rights
IPRs essential or potentially essential to the present document may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (https://ipr.etsi.org/).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Foreword
This Technical Report (TR) has been produced by ETSI Special Committee Emergency Communications (EMTEL).
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and "cannot" are to be
interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.
Introduction
The success of alert messages with the purpose of warning the public and individuals about potential hazards and
disasters is dependent on the ability of the message recipients to:
(i) understand that an alert message has been received; and
(ii) to understand the contents of the alert message in order to draw the correct conclusions.
Both these abilities may be restricted by specific sensory or cognitive requirements of individual users. Individuals with
sensory impairments may not become aware of a published warning message unless the message is delivered in a
modality which they can receive and interpret. For a warning message to be understood by its recipients it is essential
that it is presented in a way that users can interpret correctly, taking into account their specific sensory and cognitive
requirements. Other factors that need to be considered are e.g. the ability of a foreign user to understand the local
language.
While the design guidelines collected in the present document are expected to benefit primarily users with special
sensory or cognitive requirements they are equally relevant for user in situations in which environmental factors
exclude the use of specific modalities (e.g. spoken language in a very noisy environment) or in which the users are not
able to interpret specific presentation of information (e.g. written alert messages while driving a vehicle).

ETSI

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5 ETSI TR 103 335 V1.1.1 (2017-04)
1 Scope
The present document provides user interface design guidelines applicable to alert messages which allow users with
disabilities to become aware of alert messages and to access the contents of such messages. These guidelines cover the
presentation of alert messages.
The contents of alert messages is not in the scope of the present document.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
Normative references are not applicable in the present document.
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
The following referenced documents are not necessary for the application of the present document but they assist the
user with regard to a particular subject area.
[i.1] ISO 9241-12 (1998): "Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals
(VDTs) -Part 12: Presentation of information".
[i.2] ISO 9241-171 (2008): "Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 171: Guidance on software
accessibility".
[i.3] ISO/IEC 40500 (2012): "Information technology - W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) 2.0".
[i.4] ETSI EG 202 116 (03-2009): "Human Factors (HF); Guidelines for ICT products and services;
"Design for All"".
[i.5] ETSI EG 203 350 (V1.1.1) (11-2016): "Human Factors (HF); Guidelines for the design of mobile
ICT devices and their related applications for people with cognitive disabilities".
[i.6] ETSI EN 301 549 (V1.1.2) (04-2015): "Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement
of ICT products and services in Europe".
[i.7] Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA).
NOTE: Available at https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/wireless-emergency-alerts-wea.
[i.8] ETSI TS 102 900 (V1.2.1) (01-2012): "Emergency Communications (EMTEL);European Public
Warning System (EU-ALERT) using the Cell Broadcast Service".
ETSI

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3 Definitions and abbreviations
3.1 Definitions
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions apply:
Assistive Technology (AT): umbrella term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with
disabilities and also includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): part of a series of web accessibility guidelines published by the
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
NOTE: This may contain additional information.
3.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
AT Assistive Technology
CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert System
ICT Information and Communication Technology
TV Television
WCAG Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
4 Accessibility Scenarios
4.1 General
This clause describes the reception of alert messages by different fictive recipients (personae) in a fictive emergency
situation. The emergency situation is common to all personae, whereas the accessibility conditions to the alert
information of each persona depends on different influencing factors that may be autogenic, societal or environmental.
This situational description will serve the identification of accessibility scenarios.
4.2 Emergency situation description
• Hazard: toxic cloud
• Location: a large highly populated city in Spain, in the community of Catalonia
• Official spoken languages in the area: Spanish and Catalan
• Time: 6:23 pm
• Severity: medium
• Likelihood: confirmed
4.3 Personae description
In the alerting scenarios described below reference is made to a number of people with either a sensory or cognitive
impairment, special age characteristics which may have to be considered, and/or in an environment which makes use of
specific modes for the presentation of information not useful or receivable by users being the target of the hazard alert.
Their specific characteristics are described in table 1.
ETSI

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7 ETSI TR 103 335 V1.1.1 (2017-04)
Table 1
Name Influencing autogenic factors Influencing societal factors Influencing situational/
environmental context
Daniela  Very tired
Driving
Anna Elderly In the kitchen
Max Child Playing with smartphone
Balazs Does not know the local In public area
languages Highly noisy environment
Irene  Tired
Mobile phone in vibration mode
John  Highly noisy environment
Eric Severe hearing disability Able to speak in local languages Sick, at home
and understand sign language
Sara Visual impairment At home, working
Pilar Deaf from birth Able to speak in local language In public area
and understand sign language

Daniela is a 31-year-old woman. She is driving in her car towards her hometown - a village just 20 km away from her
working place. She is a trauma surgeon in the emergency room of the University hospital in the city and finished her
12 hours shift about 20 minutes ago, two hours later than she would normally do due to an operation that
...