Reading Order

Accessibility Guidelines and Specifications

To ensure that the needs of people with disabilities who use Pearson products are effectively represented in the development of guidelines and best practices for accessibility, Pearson engages in technical standards development through global organizations such as the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) open in new tab, IMS Global open in new tab, and the Digital Accessible Information SYstem (DAISY) Consortium open in new tab

• The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) open in new tab develops technical specifications, protocols and guidelines through their Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). W3C's guidelines define key parts of what makes the World Wide Web work and how to ensure that web content will be accessible to people with disabilities.
• The IMS (Instructional Management System) Global Learning Consortium open in new tab is a nonprofit member organization that develops open interoperability and accessibility specifications to support innovative learning technology for instruction and assessment.
• The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) open in new tab works together with its partner organizations, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) open in new tab and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) open in new tab, to create technical standards and guidelines that include a diverse range of accessibility consideration for everything from ergonomics, information technology, assistive products, public information symbols and the built environment. It is important to note that the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.0 was approved as an ISO/IEC International Standard in 2012: ISO/IEC 40500:2012 open in new tab. It was reviewed and confirmed again in 2019.
• The DAISY open in new tab (Digital Accessible Information SYstem) Consortium develops technical standards and best practices for digital publishing and reading platforms to ensure accessibility for people with disabilities in both specialist and mainstream formats, including EPUB 3, the leading mainstream ebook standard.

Pearson Assessments Staff Involvement:

IMS Global Learning Consortium

Paul Grudnitski, Pearson’s Vice President of Architecture and Innovation serves as one of four Co-Chairs of the QTI 3 Specification. Please see our IMS Involvement page for details about the groups and efforts supported by Pearson Assessment staff.

DAISY Consortium

Steve Noble, Accessible Instructional Designer for Pearson’s Accessibility Team for Assessments, serves on the DAISY – DIAGRAM Standards Group.