ABSTRACT
Standards, guidelines, and style guides generally exist to improve the consistency of the user interface and to improve the quality of interface components. They help specifiers to procure systems and system components which can be used effectively, efficiently, safely, and comfortably. They also help restrict the unnecessary variety of interface hardware, software, and technology and ensure that the benefits of any variations are fully justified against the costs of incompatibility, loss of efficiency, and increased training time for users. Even standards that are still under development can have an impact on hardware and software development. The major suppliers play an active part in generating the standards, and increasingly they are incorporating the guidance on good practice into products before the standards themselves are published.
