Developing BS7000 Part 6 – Guide to Managing Inclusive Design

Abstract

Companies are increasingly finding themselves having to ensure that their products and services are accessible and inclusive, or else be exposed to the possibility of litigation and damage to their brand reputation. However, the adoption of inclusive design within industry has been patchy at best. While there are undoubtedly companies that have yet to be persuaded of the merits of inclusive design, there is a growing number that want to design inclusively, but do not know how to set about doing so. In response to this need, a new technical guidance Standard is currently being prepared by the British Standards Institute (BSI). The new document, BS 7000-6: 2004 – Guide to managing inclusive design, will form part of the BS 7000 Design Management Systems series. The aim of this paper is to explain the rationale behind the development of the new Standard and an overview of its contents. Due to copyright restrictions, this paper does not attempt to provide a summary of the contents of the new Standard.