return to Interfaces

Until humans evolve to have one culture and speak with one language, there is no standard way to interface with humans. In many ways human interfaces are cultural and are dependent on the human experience. Human interfaces have evolved, and are evolving, so that the effectiveness of the interface is in many ways fickle, trendy, and highly subject to bias. However, this does not mean that there are no guiding principles for human interfaces.

Projects should have a Graphical User Interface (GUI) Style Guide and projects should remain consistent within those guidelines.

Note: Because of the cultural nature of user Interfaces, only guidance is listed, not standards.

• ADA Website Accessibility Under Title II of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) - ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments, Website Accessibility Under Title II of the ADA, Chapter 5, https://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/chap5toolkit.htm
• Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section https://www.ada.gov/websites2.htm
• ISO/IEC 24723:2010 Information technology — Automatic identification and data capture techniques — GS1 Composite bar code symbology specification
• ISO/IEC 24724:2011 Information technology — Automatic identification and data capture techniques — GS1 DataBar bar code symbology specification
• ISO/IEC 7816 Integrated Circuit Card Family of Specificaions

Every project and program usually develops its own guidelines for user interfaces (UI). Often, these are modeled after some of the guidance offered by major corporations known for having “good” products.

• Android Developer, User Interface and Design, https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui
• Apple, Mac OS Developer, https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/overview/visual-index/
• Apple IOS Developer, https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/overview/themes/
• GNOME Human Interface Guidelines, https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/
• KDE Human Interface Guidelines, https://hig.kde.org/
• Microsoft Designing a User Interface, https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/appuistart/designing-a-user-interface

There are many tools and frameworks available. The best advice is to remember that DIDO deployments are not as agile as stand-alone applications and require significant effort to keep the distributed applications in sync. Choose tools and frameworks keeping that in mind.