# Hospital-room icon fitness evaluation (HospitalRoom.org)

License: CC BY 4.0 — attribute 'HospitalRoom.org' with a link back to
https://hospitalroom.org/frameworks/icon-fitness

A HospitalRoom.org working checklist, not a published standard. Evaluate an icon intended for hospital-room diagrams, architecture drawings, or clinical education materials. Record evidence and an owner for each condition.

## Semantic accuracy

The glyph's meaning matches the clinical or facilities concept it claims (for example negative-pressure airflow direction, gas-outlet identity, or alarm priority). When a published standard defines the concept, cite or link that standard without claiming the icon is that standard's official symbol.

Question: Does a clinician or facilities engineer who knows the concept agree the glyph means what the label claims — without treating the icon as an official standard symbol?

| Met | Partial | Not met | Evidence | Owner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | |

## Recognizability

At diagram sizes (about 20–40 px), the referent is distinguishable without a caption. Evaluation can follow the public method in ISO 9186-1 (graphical symbols — test methods for comprehensibility). A ≥67% correct-comprehension figure is commonly referenced in ISO safety-symbol practice (often discussed with ISO 3864); ANSI Z535.3's commonly cited 85% criterion is a stricter US practice for safety symbols. Do not invent pass rates for any icon on this site. HospitalRoom.org has not published formal ISO 9186-1 trial results for its set.

Question: At 20–40 px without a caption, can the intended audience name the referent — and has anyone actually checked, rather than assumed?

| Met | Partial | Not met | Evidence | Owner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | |

## Diagram fitness

Single-stroke / consistent weight, currentColor or monochrome base, readable when color is applied downstream. Colored clinical conventions (for example medical-gas identification colors under NFPA 99 / ISO 5359, as applicable) belong in the diagram layer, not hard-coded into the base glyph when the set is meant to theme.

Question: Does the glyph stay legible when stroked at diagram size and recolored downstream, without baking gas or airflow colors into the base asset?

| Met | Partial | Not met | Evidence | Owner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | |

## License clarity

Redistribution terms are explicit (CC BY 4.0 for HospitalRoom.org; follow each external library's trademark and license notes on /icons). Attribution path is documented.

Question: Can you redistribute this glyph under a written license, and do you know exactly how to attribute it?

| Met | Partial | Not met | Evidence | Owner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | |

## Scope honesty

Room-level clinical infrastructure icons are not confused with regulated safety signs (ISO 7010), cloud-vendor architecture marks, or population-health pictograms. External libraries listed on /icons stay for beyond-the-room diagrams; do not treat them as room kit.

Question: Is this glyph being used inside its intended scope — room infrastructure vs safety sign vs cloud architecture vs population-health pictogram?

| Met | Partial | Not met | Evidence | Owner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | | |

## Working rule

Semantic accuracy and recognizability must both be at least Partial before putting an icon in a clinical or facilities diagram. A pretty glyph with ambiguous meaning is decoration. All five Present with no license path is still not shippable for redistribution.

## Evidence note

This is a working checklist, not a published standard. It draws on ISO 9186-1 as a public method for testing graphical-symbol comprehensibility; commonly referenced comprehension acceptance figures in ISO safety-symbol practice (≥67% correct comprehension, often discussed alongside ISO 3864) and ANSI Z535.3's commonly cited 85% criterion for safety symbols; ISO 7010 / ISO 3864 (safety signs and markings) and ISO 7001 (public information symbols) for scope boundaries; and NFPA 99 / ISO 5359 medical-gas identification color conventions (color, not icon shape). HospitalRoom.org has not published formal ISO 9186-1 trial results for its icon set.