Reed Educational and Professional Publishing, 2000. - 129
pages.
Broadly, universal design means that the products which designers design are universally
accommodating, that they cater conveniently for all their users. On the route towards this goal a product that was initially designed primarily for the mass market of normal able-bodied people could have been subsequently been refined and modified – the effect, with accommodation parameters being extended, being that it would suit all its other potential users as well, including people with disabilities.
Five examples of this universal design process are cited, none of the products conceed being ones that in previous forms had been geared to suit people with disabilities. First, the remote-control television operator. Second, the personal computer – as word processor, electronic-mail communicator and, through the Inteet, information provider. Third, the mobile telephone. Fourth, the microwave cooker. Fifth, the standard car with off-the-peg features such as automatic drive, central door-locking, electronic windows and power-assisted steering. Good design for
everyone, it may be noted, is good for disabled people.
The methodology of this design process is termed bottom up. The comparison is with a product initially designed to meet the special needs of a particular group of people with disabilities, one that was subsequently modified so that it suited normal able-bodied people as well; here the design process would have been top down.
Broadly, universal design means that the products which designers design are universally
accommodating, that they cater conveniently for all their users. On the route towards this goal a product that was initially designed primarily for the mass market of normal able-bodied people could have been subsequently been refined and modified – the effect, with accommodation parameters being extended, being that it would suit all its other potential users as well, including people with disabilities.
Five examples of this universal design process are cited, none of the products conceed being ones that in previous forms had been geared to suit people with disabilities. First, the remote-control television operator. Second, the personal computer – as word processor, electronic-mail communicator and, through the Inteet, information provider. Third, the mobile telephone. Fourth, the microwave cooker. Fifth, the standard car with off-the-peg features such as automatic drive, central door-locking, electronic windows and power-assisted steering. Good design for
everyone, it may be noted, is good for disabled people.
The methodology of this design process is termed bottom up. The comparison is with a product initially designed to meet the special needs of a particular group of people with disabilities, one that was subsequently modified so that it suited normal able-bodied people as well; here the design process would have been top down.