Overview
ISO/IEC TR 11581-1:2011 is a Technical Report that introduces the ISO/IEC 11581 series on user interface icons. It provides an authoritative overview for developers, designers, and standards users of currently available icon standards and the proposed structure for future parts. The report describes how the series is organized, summarizes existing icon families (object, pointer, tool, action, multimedia, web browser, link-attribute, mobile), and explains the role of icons as interaction objects across visual, auditory, and tactile modalities.
Key topics and technical coverage
- Series structure and scope
- Describes the planned parts of ISO/IEC 11581 and how existing standards will be incorporated or replaced.
- Explains the role of this Technical Report as a regularly-updated reference for icon standards.
- Icon families and definitions
- Object icons (ISO/IEC 11581-2): icons representing movable/openable objects (e.g., document, folder, printer).
- Pointer icons (ISO/IEC 11581-3): pointers logically attached to input devices; how appearance and feedback change.
- Tool icons (ISO/IEC 11581-5): tools associated with real-world tools (e.g., draw, erase, rotate).
- Action icons (ISO/IEC 11581-6): icons prompting user actions (e.g., save, print, undo/redo).
- Multimedia control icons (ISO/IEC 18035): play, pause, stop, volume, etc.
- Web browser icons (ISO/IEC 18036): back, forward, refresh, home, bookmark.
- Link attribute icons (ISO/IEC 24738): indicators for link types and attributes (on-page/off-page, load, history).
- Mobile icons (ISO/IEC 24755): application and status icons for mobile devices (battery, messages, network).
- Interaction and appearance
- Describes user interaction patterns, visual appearance guidelines, feedback mechanisms (e.g., pointer changes when busy).
- Accessibility and modalities
- Notes that icons can be rendered visually, aurally, or tactilely to improve accessibility and cultural/linguistic independence.
- Planned future parts
- Framework/guidance (Part 10), families guidance (Part 20), icon development and evaluation (Part 30), registration management (Part 40), and data structure for an icon database (Part 41).
Practical applications and users
- Who uses it
- UI/UX designers, software developers, mobile app teams, multimedia and web browser developers, accessibility specialists, product managers, and standards bodies.
- Where it applies
- Designing consistent, recognizable UI icons across desktop, web, and mobile platforms.
- Creating icon sets for multimedia controls, toolbars, pointers, and status indicators.
- Implementing accessible icon modalities (auditory/tactile) and preparing icon registration and catalogs.
- Benefits
- Improves cross-application consistency, user learnability, and international accessibility.
- Provides a baseline for iconography, interaction behavior, and future icon database interoperability.
Related standards
Keywords: ISO/IEC TR 11581-1, user interface icons, icon standards, UI icons, icon guidelines, accessibility, iconography, interface design, icon database.