My android phone is a good example.
It is a graphic interface that would allow my people of diverse backgrounds operate and understand the device.
michele,
Absolutely right! These are great examples of products designed to be usable by many, instead of ASSUMING that "one size fits all" is good enough.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
UD includes chairs that have height adjustment, phones that can have volume controls, and computers that have the ability to read the text. All of these products we take for granted but are all principals of Universal Design.
Mary,
You have given us some good examples of Universal Design elements that have nothing to do with disability and EVERYTHING to do with useability. Such design also carries with it (often) the promise of being more ecologically sound.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Bathrooms with automatic flushers and hand cleansing stations for water,soap and paper dispensers which are not only more sanitary but convenient. Close caption tv is also used in gyms.Sensored lights that turn on in response to movement.
RONDA,
Excellent example! Just yesterday I was watching a commercial about someone who noticed that folks regularly have their arms full and thus cannot use their hands to open doors and has invented an option that will allow folks to open the tailgate of their car with some kind of foot pedal! That, too, might be Universal Design. It may or may not help people with disabilities, but it does make the tailgate more usable to a lot of folks -- and that is what it is all about!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I use the levered doors on a daily basis as my hands ar always filled with books, papers and a caffeinated beverage of some sort. This allows me to open doors without having to use my hands. This would also be useful for someone with a functional disabilty that cannot use their upper extremeties.
Julia,
That is a different kind of access... one provided through accommodation. And there is certainly nothing wrong with that. But usually when we think of Universal Design, we think of products and environments that are used equally by people with disabilities and those without.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
The door handles at my campus location are not twist or turn handles, they are pull (and have the wheelchair access option), to allow people with hand or arm disabilities easy access.
Yolanda,
Those are all great examples. Speaking of cell phones, another element of Universal Design (in an extended sort of way), is the ready access to text messaging. For individuals who cannot hear or cannot speak because of disability, the ready availability of text messaging provides access to the benefits of instant and mobile communication that the rest of us have with phone calls to/from a cell phone.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
An example of universal design would be:
1. Wider doorways and lower countertops in my condo. This provides access for individuals who are in wheelchairs and gives them equal access.
2. Voice activated cell phones and speakers on phones.
3. Automatic doors in grocery stores/malls/busy shopping centers
4. Larger buttons on cell phones, televisions, washing machines, etc…the list goes on.
Daniel,
Good one! And while we are at it, drinking fountains that have the push bars rather than the old turn handles at the top are also a good example. The bars are easier for everyone to trigger (and aren't limited to convenience for "righties"! GRIN).
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Drinking fountains with front and side activation buttons are a prime example. The buttons are lengthened for greater surface area and therefore, access.
Shaine,
Those are excellent examples of "mainstream technology" that have significant benefit for certain populations of people with disabilities. Let's not forget text messaging -- a mainstay of young people today, but opening up lines of communication for some people with disabilities who would be unable to communicate across distances any other way!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I can think of several different products that represent universal design from automatic locks to programs like dragon diction that allow you to talk and it prints the words that you speak onto your screen. These types of products make our lives easier, but allow those with disabilities to easily do the necessary task that may be at hand.
Sharon ,
Those are all great examples. It is always surprising to me, when I look around me, to find so many things that are designed "universally" without our thinking about it -- and possibly without the designer having that conscious thought. For example, the icons used in MOST computer operating systems are universal -- the little envelope to denote email, the speaker with sound radiating from it, the hand-held magnifying glass that represents "search." It is not so much that "one size fits all" as that these similarities make it easier for us to move seamlessly through a modern world.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
So many things that are used in routine daily life that serve the purposes of a variety of individuals:
Voice activated commands on cell phones
Larger stalls in restrooms to accomodate parents with strollers or travelers with luggage
Closed-captioning on televisions in doctor's waiting rooms
Automatic doors at busy shopping centers
Remote controls and telephones with larger, back-lit buttons
The list goes on.....!
And let's not forget universal remotes for the TV and standard keyboards and keypads for electronic devices, Lisa! Sometimes the element of design that makes it UD is not that it is automatic, but that it is consistent across usage.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
So many improvements not only for people with disabilities, but for the general public as well. How convenient to have automatic door openers, and automatic light switches, soap dispensers, hand dryers, and water faucets which are motion sensitive.
Any keyboard on any computer, and any mouse on any computer that some people have never seen before, such as lef-click, right-click, and scrolling up and down.
