The American National Standards Institute or ANSI (pronounced "an-see") is a nonprofit organization that oversees the development of standards for products, services, processes and systems in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international standards so that American products can be used worldwide. For example, standards make sure that people who own cameras can find the film they need for them anywhere around the globe.

The American National Standards Institute approves standards that are developed by representatives of standards developing organizations, government agencies, consumer groups, companies, and others. These standards make sure that the characteristics and performance of products are consistent, that people use the same definitions and terms, and that products are tested the same way.

ANSI accredits organizations that carry out product or personnel certification in accordance with requirements defined in international standards. The ANSI accreditation programs conform to international guidelines as verified by government and peer review assessments.

In 1918, five engineering societies and three government agencies founded the American Engineering Standards Committee (AESC). The AESC became the American Standards Association (ASA) in 1928. In 1966, the ASA was reorganized and became the United States of America Standards Institute (USASI). The present name was adopted in 1969. The organization's headquarters are in Washington, D.C.

Examples of ANSI's Standardization Activities

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The ASA photographic exposure system became the basis for the ISO film speed system, currently used worldwide.

ASCII art which is colorized or animated by way of ANSI terminal control codes (X3.64 sequences) are commonly referred to as "ANSI art" and were predominantly popular on bulletin board systems throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

The original standard implementation of the computer language C was standardized by ANSI, becoming the well-known ANSI C.

In 2005 ANSI stopped its testing on hardtoe boots along with other things. The thus came ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials).

In Microsoft Windows, the phrase "ANSI" refers to the Windows ANSI code pages. Most of these are fixed width though there are some variable width ones for ideographic languages. Some of these are very close to the ISO-8859 series leading many to falsely assume that they are identical.

ANSI's most common standard for eye protection is Z87.1, which gives a specific impact resistance rating to the eyewear. This standard is commonly used for shop glasses, shooting glasses, and many other examples of protective eyewear.

External links

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• American National Standards Institute official Web site
• ANSI Overview
• ANSI Historical Overview
• ASC X12 Vision and Mission

ISO member bodies | Organizations based in the United States

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