New guidelines for the design of ICT products and services to be used by young children

Manufacturers and service providers are starting to design, test and launch a stream of new products specifically for young children. To support the development of these new products and services, ETSI has published a guide.

The leader of the task force which produced the new guidelines, Anne Clarke, says that 'children under 12 years of age are becoming a significant consumer group for advanced computing and communications services. In some cases, children as young as four or five are using 3G phones and the Internet'.

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) plays a major role in global standardisation of technologies, including telecommunications and broadcasting. ETSI unites around 700 member companies from nearly 60 countries, including manufacturers, network operators, administrations, service providers, research bodies and users.

After two years of research and consultation, a team of experts at ETSI has produced the ETSI Design Guideline EG 202 423. One of the features of the guide is the description of the attributes and requirements of young children, for ICT services, at various stages in their development. This means that the telecoms industry and service providers have, for the first time, an understanding of the age-related requirements of this key market segment.

Throughout its drafting the ETSI Guide has been supported by various organisations. These organisations include ANEC, BT, OTE, Siemens, and Telenor, who were the original five supporting organisations when the work was started. Throughout the work of the ETSI Special Task Force (STF 266), and the formal approval phase, many different stakeholders have shown an interest, including mobile service providers, designers, ICT product manufactures and particularly children’s groups. These organisations will use the ETSI Guide to inform their future work.

On the technical side, the guidelines provide explicit rules to guide industry and service providers. For example, for children, the physical design of terminals, the understanding of instructions and the navigation of content are different from that for adults. Of particular importance are the guidelines dealing with practical safeguards, such as the boundaries to use of children’s personal data. The new guidelines also address the question of location based services, where the hand set is in use by a child.

The new ETSI Guide is just the beginning of a major effort by ETSI. The next step in the programme is to develop guidelines for service providers who are providing services specifically for young children. This new work, which is expected to begin shortly, will build a consensus between regulatory bodies, and children's representatives on how service providers will deal with young users under the age of 12 years. At the recent Safer Internet Conference on Child Safety and mobile phones (Luxembourg 14 June 05), the EU Commissioner Ms Reding strongly urged this type of approach. Clarke will be co-ordinating the effort in ETSI, to ensure that the Institute plays its part in addressing the need for such guidance.

The new guidelines have been approved by vote of the ETSI Members, and are now available at-http://pda.etsi.org/pda/queryform.asp (see link below)

Associated Link: The guidelines

Rest your Wrists when you're Writing on the go
Source: UN, 25 July 2008
 
Computer Intelligence, Inc. has launched Intelligels(R), a line of wrist rests for laptop computers.

Brits more hooked on mobile tech than Yanks are
Source: RegisterHardware, 24 July 2008
 
According to the latest edition of Carphone Warehouse’s Mobile Life Report, 94 per cent of British youngsters own mobile phones, compared to just 80 per cent of those in the US.

Five ways to Improve online cross- and up-selling
Source: Webcredible, 23 July 2008
 
Increasing cross-selling and up-selling on your website will help sell more items and keep customers coming back.

Say goodbye to the Computer Mouse
Source: BBC, 22 July 2008
 
It's nearly 40 years old but one leading research company says the days of the computer mouse are numbered.

LowBrowse: a web browser for the Visually Impaired
Source: UN, 21 July 2008
 
An innovative new add-on software tool will enable millions of people worldwide with low vision to access previously inaccessible web pages.

Now you can See your Voicemail
Source: UN, 19 July 2008
 
Speech Design's new Visual Voice Mail 'pushes' voice messages directly to mobile handsets, eliminating push-button retrieval.

User-centred research into mobile law enforcement recognised
Source: UN, 18 July 2008
 
C-innovate, a user-centred consultancy based at the Sussex Innovation Centre at the University of Sussex, has won an award for its research into mobile technology and innovation in the public sector.

The Web speaks up
Source: UN, 17 July 2008
 
Textic Limited has just announced the commercial launch of Talklets, a Web 2.0 service that ‘voice enables’ text-based Web content.

All-in-One Devices ride again
Source: Wall St Journal: Market Watch, 16 July 2008
 
Evolutions of all-in-one devices and internet-TV functionality will fuel the nascent home theatre PC market, according to ABI Research.

How to Succeed as a First-Time UX Manager
Source: UXMatters, 15 July 2008
 
Being a manager of UX is no better — and no worse — than being a great designer or user researcher, but the roles are very different.