Making Robots Safer for Everyone, Including People with Disabilities — A Conversation with ULSE TC Member Dr. J. Bern Jordan

In 2024, UL Standards & Engagement published UL 3300, the Standard for Service, Communication, Information, Education and Entertainment Robots, which helps to ensure that SCIEE robots can perform various tasks independently in commercial spaces such as restaurants, grocery stores, and banks, without causing danger to persons or surroundings. 

In developing this standard, ULSE convened a technical committee of several experts representing a variety of interests — including industry, academia, government, retail, and manufacturing — to contribute to its requirements. One of these experts, Dr. J. Bern Jordan, brought expertise in cross-disability access to provide critical input on the standard’s requirements for interaction with older adults and people with disabilities.

Dr. Jordan is currently an Assistant Research Engineer and Director of the TRACE Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center at the University of Maryland, College Park and has worked in accessibility of information and communications technology for over 20 years. Focusing on cross-disability access, Dr. Jordan has worked on kiosk and voting access, photosensitive epilepsy content safety, auto-personalization of computers and interfaces, and accessible at-home COVID-19 and maternal health tests, apps, and instructions. He has helped organizations address accessibility including the US Access Board, FDIC, NIST, US Capitol Visitors Center, and Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.

We recently spoke with Dr. Jordan to find out more about his research, his input on UL 3300, and the importance of accessibility in standards development: 

How did you get interested and involved in accessibility work?

My primary work is in making information and communications technology work better for people who are aging and people with disabilities. I became interested in accessibility in college when I was learning about web accessibility guidelines. I realized then that many access barriers in digital systems were unnecessary and could be reduced or eliminated with better design processes. 

My work goes across disabilities including people with sensory disabilities (Blind, low vision, Deaf, hard of hearing), physical disabilities (e.g. limitations in reach, dexterity, strength), mobility disabilities, and cognitive, language and learning disabilities. 

Why is accessibility important to consider in standards development?

Standards can help bring accessibility into the real world where it can have an impact. It’s important to make something accessible from the beginning by addressing as many concerns and considerations as possible. 

As a technical committee member for UL 3300, I help bring different perspectives of people who are aging and people with disabilities to the technical committee. Robots may have outputs and behaviors that are difficult to perceive and understand by some people in these populations. Furthermore, where robots do not give multimodal feedback or other output, some people with disabilities may remain unaware of specific potential dangers or hazards.

How were hazards or needs specific to people with disabilities considered in the development of UL 3300?

In an earlier draft of UL 3300, specific considerations relevant to older adults, young children, people with disabilities, and others termed in the standards as “vulnerable persons,” were only included as an annex to the standard. However, robots covered by UL 3300 are to be used by a wide range of consumers, including people who may have greater risk of harm where their needs are not considered in the design of SCIEE robots. After discussions as a technical committee, these considerations were removed from annex and included throughout the standard document. 

UL 3300 also includes informative guidance around robot safety vision systems and wheelchairs and walking canes. Robots shouldn’t be bumping into mobility devices, but these devices may not have been included in the training for safety vision systems.

Additional considerations were added as informative guidance on flash rates and other thresholds to reduce seizures due to photosensitive epilepsy as well as frequency recommendations that consider people who have a hearing impairment.

What is the role of the technical committee in helping ensure that standards consider the safety of people who have disabilities?

Technical committee members should consider accessibility when developing standards. Think about people who don’t have expected abilities and how standards can be expanded to help remove access barriers.

Accessibility should be a shared concern for the technical committee, but not everyone has experience in it. A lot of times people do not know that they are creating barriers. By including accessibility considerations, standards can help engineers and designers develop better products.

What advice would you give to other professionals with expertise in supporting people with disabilities who are considering joining a TC?

Participating in standards development can be intimidating, but my advice for others would be to work within your area of expertise. I have limited familiarity with robots from small projects and volunteering with youth robot challenges, but my accessibility expertise is much deeper. You might not know all of the history of a technical committee and problems they have worked through, but there are other people on the committee that do. If you see a potential problem with accessibility, be confident enough to bring it up. You might be one of the few on the technical committee who recognize the problem so you need to speak up.