Universal Design Hits Home
Some examples I can think of are:
1) large bright keyboard keys that can assist someone in seeing who is maybe legally blind or deaf.
2) Programs that you may talk to and it will type your response which would also assist the blind.
I just got a new I phone. I love how I can just place my thumb on the home button and it opens the phone for me. I do not need to enter my pin number. And of course, there's Siri. By holding the home button, I can ask her to create a reminder for me or ask if my favorite football team won. Our company just a new hospital and each room is equipped with Cyracom phones to help interpret foreign languages instead of the normal phones.
Patricia,
That's very mindful of you. I'm sure that your clients appreciate the special consideration.
Sarah Smoger
While working in a nursing facility, it is very important as a beautician to have the proper shampoo chair and a movable dryer to accommodate the client. In a lot of instances I have to take my own neck holder for a client who cannot use a shampoo chair to insure they are not drench while being shampooed.
Can you think of products/systems you use every day that are good examples of Universal Design? Explain which principle(s) of Universal Design is exemplified in your example.
Nicholas,
Those are all good examples. Here's a little interesting disability trivia for you. The same elements of architectural design that provide access for one population may create problems for another. Curb cuts are needed for people who are in wheelchairs and can't negotiate curbs. But they can be a problem for blind folks who are used to using their canes to guide their safe passage, and can no long feel the change in sidewalk height that comes at the curb to the street. That is why curb cuts these days general contain either a visual difference (often painted yellow for those with low vision to see), and/or have little nubs (rounded bumps that stick up) to indicate a change in grade for someone who can't see it.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
The first thing that comes to my mind is the difference in car handles. It used to be that you had a handle with a thumb push button to open the car door. Now almost all cars have a longer handle which is used to open the door. With the old handles, anyone with a injury to their thumb would have a more difficult time opening the door.
Many sidewalks have ramps where they meet the street versus a hard curb. This provides safe access for people with wheelchairs.
Most appliances have text and picture symbols in their instruction manuals and on the buttons used to operate them. This makes the appliance more usable for someone who struggles with reading.
I am sure there are many examples of UD in our lives every day that we do not even realize but if we went back to 1980, we would notice the difference pre-UD.
Bonnie,
Those are all good ideas for incorporating the idea of Universal Design into your everyday teaching. The bottom line intent is that the systems and strategies in place should either be useful by all or that enough options be available that SOMETHING will work for everyone.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Michele,
Those are a good start. Now... when the family comes to talk to the surgeon, are there systems in place to provide interpreters (including sign language interpreters, as needed) to assure that all in the family understand what the surgeon is saying? Years ago, I was volunteering in a local hospital and tried to help a deaf family who had brought in their aging grandmother. The stiff-necked receptionist in the ICU ward kept telling the family that they should go home and wait for a phone call from the doctor who would explain to them how their mother was doing. Except she was saying this (not writing, not signing) to the family -- and this was before the days of relay services! GRIN
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Bonnie Kiefer
I would say by using audio/visual and other techniques in my classes doing differant types of teaching gives all students a learning opportunity that works best for them than I will have them give me feedback on what work best and go from there. Another good tool would be the VARK test which will show me and the students their best learning styles
I work in an operating room examples of Universal Designs are the large television monitors we have to update family members on the status of their loved one (via first and last name initials). Family are also offered a pager that vibrates and flashes lights when the family is needed or the surgeon is ready to speak post procedure.
Dr. Jarrow, But, it was the second part of my comment, i.e. the idea that computer applications that we have in the work place are so far from embodying Universal Design principles. It is as if many of the Information Technology folks have not heard of Universal Design.
Norman,
Smart phones are, indeed, a great example of universal design principles -- and getting better all the time. When it comes to mobile devices, Apple is still "king" with its IOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod) because they all come with built in accessibility (through Voiceover). The Android-based devices are catching up with the development of some newly available applications, but the fact that Voiceover is built in to the IOS devices means that it operates more smoothly in conjunction with other apps.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Dr. Jarrow, I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy 4 "SmartPhone" to replace my Pantech Discovery. It allows me both audio and visual access, so I can get my voice mail by voice commands or using visual access via a virtual key pad. It is one of the more intuitive "SmartPhones" I have used. It is not there yet with respect to Universal Design, but it is much closer to an ideal than my old Pantech or my wife's Samsung Galaxy 3.
Where I still fail to see good universal design principles applied is in the realm of Application Programs used for transactional processing. I find many more user hostile examples than user friendly examples. They continue to be a great source of bad examples when I teach IT courses.
juan,
The potential for new technology is certainly an exciting prospect. And new technology will help everyone, including people with disabilities. But the concept of Universal Design is more specific than "what helps one will help all." It centers on the idea that products, services, and/or elements of the environment are developed to be USED by as many people as possible, rather than being USEFUL to as many as possible.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I didn't have an actual product/system in mind in my message. However, now that you mention it, I can give you one technology that may revolutionize the way we live in the near future. This/these buzzing technology/ies is minted IOT - internet of things.
Basically it will integrate any/every device/apparatus/mechanical systems/../...into huge networks of information to control, provide feedback, manage, administer, aid, provide warnings, improve technology, improve traffic, minimize accidents, optimize water/heat/electricity, warn you of your health potential failures (signals of a possible heart failure), etc,etc, etc... All of that information can be provided by small devices with enough smarts (software programs embedded in those devices) that are connected to EXTREMELY FAST, reliable and fault tolerant WIRELESS network systems.
That definitely will help a person with disabilities.
Alena,
Mirrors? How so? It isn't the MIRROR that is an example of UD, although the *placement* of the mirror might be an example of UD (that is, having it low enough so that someone in a wheelchair can still see themselves). In a way, the traditional placement of the keys on a keyboard (the QWERTY keyboard) is a form of universal design because it is standard. But not all typical keyboards can be used comfortably by everyone.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Mirrors in the bathroom are a good example of Unniversial Design. Keyboards also have a universal design.
Cynthia,
WONDERFUL examples. Thanks. The statistics show that building in accessibility adds less than 10% to the cost of most designs, while retrofitting for accessibility can cost as much as 40% of the original construction cost.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I was a residential designer for 25+ years and tried to squeeze in UD whenever possible because it made life easier for everyone in the home in addition to making the home marketable to a wider market. For instance is a homeowner builds his house in his 40's and plans to stay in the home until retirement chances are either he or possibly his parents will end up using some form of physical assistance to get around the home. With this scenario I was able to convince them to at least put in 3' wide doors and 42" wide halls to make the home more comfortable. The cost a minimally more but the payoff is immeasurable.
