Trancending 'Just Tell Me What I Have to Do'

Author: Valerie Fletcher, Executive Director, Adaptive Environments

Universal Design, An Overview

Universal Design is a framework for the design of places, things, information, communication and policy to be usable by the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. Most simply, Universal Design is human-centered design of everything with everyone in mind.

It is not limited to particular places or things nor does it focus on particular types of functional limitations such as accommodating users of wheeled mobility or people who are blind.

Universal Design, also called Inclusive Design, Design-for-All and Lifespan Design, is not a design style but an orientation to the design process that starts with a responsibility to the experience of the user. As green design is a response to environmental sustainability, Universal Design is a response to social sustainability. Both assume the importance of an evolving knowledge base.

The various terms – Universal, Inclusive, Design-for-All – are considered synonyms and used across the globe.

The aging of the world’s population, the demographic tsunami of the 21st century, has been the primary catalyst to the international Universal Design movement. In the US, lifespans average 30 years more than 100 years ago. The process of human aging is a normal and mostly incremental process that affects all of the body’s systems. Design that minimizes limitations, emphasizes strengths and supports independence and choice in all facets of life offers a potent tool for aging well.

People with disabilities have also been primary proponents of Universal Design. In the US, the Rehabilitation Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act, and state codes establish requirements for accessibility. That set of obligations constitutes the most robust and legally binding set of accessibility guidelines in the world. Framing the requirements as civil rights is a powerful legal base.

At the same time, US accessibility mandates fall short of the vision of inclusive, welcoming communities. Too often, accessibility requirements are perceived in the same light as plumbing and elevator code – more about safety and liability than about either design or human experience. “Just tell me what I have to do” is a common refrain when faced with obligations to comply. Accessibility is a floor upon which to build Universal Design in the US.

Ron Mace, FAIA, often credited as the ‘Father’ of Universal Design, was a polio survivor and architect who knew the value but also the limits of accessible design. He observed first hand that compliance with accessibility requirements doesn’t guarantee inclusive communities or good design. He cajoled his colleagues to appreciate that inclusion was not about accommodating his specific needs but about designing a world that works better for everyone.

World Health Organization’s New Definition of Disability

The way disability is defined and understood has evolved frequently over the course of history. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a new definition of disability in 2001 after 10 years in development.

Conceptually, the WHO’s ICF departs significantly from previous definitions. The distinguishing concepts include:

• Emphasizes functional status over diagnoses
• Mainstreams disability as a universal human experience
• Calls for parity between health conditions that are ‘mental’ or ‘physical.’
• Recommends Universal Design as a framework for identifying environmental facilitators that can benefit all people.

The WHO defines disability as a contextual variable, dynamic over time and in relation to circumstances. One is more or less disabled based on the interaction between oneself and the individual, institutional and social contexts in which you live. Environment is used as an umbrella term that includes the built, communication, information, attitudinal and policy environments.

Principles + User/Experts Underlie Universal Design

1. Equitable Use: The design does not disadvantage or stigmatize any group of users.
2. Flexibility in Use: The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.
3. Simple, Intuitive Use: Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.
4. Perceptible Information: The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user’s sensory abilities.
5. Tolerance for Error: The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.
6. Low Physical Effort: The design can be used efficiently and comfortably, and with a minimum of fatigue.
7. Size and Space for Approach & Use: Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use, regardless of the user’s body size, posture, or mobility.

[Compiled by advocates from five organizations in 1997. The Principles are copyrighted to the Center for Universal Design, School of Design, State University of North Carolina at Raleigh.]

The Principles established a valuable language for explaining the characteristics of Universal Design. They are in common use around the world, sometimes with slight modifications, primarily one or two principles grouped together. The Principles are under review in their 10th anniversary year and are likely to evolve in response to experience with implementation.

In addition to the Principles, there is another core concept to Universal Design: the role of the user-expert.

“A user/expert can be anyone who has developed natural experience in dealing with the challenges of our built environment. User/experts include parents managing with toddlers, older people with changing vision or stamina, people of short stature, limited grasp or who use wheelchairs. These diverse people have developed strategies for coping with the barriers and hazards they encounter everyday. The experience of the user/expert is usually in strong contrast to the life experience of most designers and is invaluable in evaluating both existing products and places as well as new designs in development.”

[Ostroff, Elaine. INNOVATION, the Quarterly Journal of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), Volume 16, No. 1 1997.]

United Nations & Universal Design

The United Nations has endorsed Universal Design for post-conflict redevelopment and has integrated it in the rebuilding of Beirut and Kosovo. Some of the foundational policy documents of the UN in the last decade state a commitment to inclusive design. They include the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development (1995) that uses the term “people-centered sustainable development.” The Madrid International Plan of Action of Ageing (2002) in Priority Direction III calls for “ensuring enabling and supportive environments” and specifically notes the inclusion of homes, cities, public transit and information and communication technology.

The new UN Treaty on the Human Rights of People with Disabilities was signed on March 30th, 2007 and signed by 102 member states. It completes a set of supplements to the International Treaty on Human Rights. The new treaty adopts Universal Design as a core principle.

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