Summary
Designing products and environments to be usable by the majority of people is the underpinning concept of universal design1. In some aspects, however, universal design fails to meet some of its own principles. This has resulted in a lack of understanding of the concept, which in turn, has allowed the terms “accessibility” and “disability” to inhabit the language of universal design. This means universal design is now bounded by concepts of accessibility, regulations and disability rights, rather than the intellectual challenges inherent in designing for the whole of the population bell curve. The universal design movement recognizes that making headway is proving difficult and is seeking ways to improve its position. Market research, however, indicates universal design is now branded as a disability product and this has implications for consumers, practitioners, and for the universal design movement in general. Discussed are the influence of terminology on the direction and perceptions of universal design, and the dilemmas of applying a regulatory framework as an implementation strategy.
Date of Original
1-1-2008
Volume
1
Issue
2
Broad Type
Article
Specific Collection
Multi: the RIT Journal of Diversity and Plurality in Design.
Notes
Note: imported from RIT’s Digital Media Library running on DSpace to the RIT Digital Institutional Repository in August 2025; Some links embedded into the PDF may not work
