ISO/IEC 21000-7:2007 specifies the syntax and semantics of tools that may be used to assist the adaptation of Digital Items, i.e. the Digital Item Declaration and resources referenced by the declaration. Users can use the tools to satisfy transmission, storage and consumption constraints, as well as Quality of Service management.

ISO/IEC 21000-7:2007 specifies tools to describe:

• user characteristics, terminal capabilities, network characteristics and natural environment characteristics;
• the high-level syntax of a binary media resource, media resource and XML streaming instructions, and properties style sheet;
• the relationship between Quality of Service constraints, feasible adaptation operations satisfying these constraints and associated media resource qualities that result from adaptation:
• limitation and optimization constraints on adaptations;
• means for linking adaptation decisions with actual media resource adaptation engines;
• metadata adaptation hint information;
• configuration-state information of a Digital Item;
• information required for the configuration of an adaptation engine; and
• permitted changes and change constraints.

ISO/IEC 21000-7:2007 does not specify the adaptation engines themselves.