Designing for the Deaf—And Everyone Else
A new student center at Gallaudet University supports deaf users in a number of ways. Others seem, on reflection, to be appropriate for any well-designed space.
A new student center at Gallaudet University supports deaf users in a number of ways. Others seem, on reflection, to be appropriate for any well-designed space.
Seating options provided make it more likely that people will sit with good or bad posture, and recent research indicates that posture is particularly important in healthcare settings.
There is a new resource for designing urban environments for those with poor eyesight.
Designers’ focus on creating experiences for users is relatively new.
There is a great obstacle for children of all abilities reaching their objective of engaged play. It is an element within the playground under the exclusive control of adults – surfacing!
The two sets of items presented in the included lists approach the issue of quality of design and building from two different and diametrically opposed positions: the "Top 10 Problems in Building Performance" represent the cumulative experience of the author over a period of 40 years, while "The Seven Principles of Universal Design" resulted from the deliberations by members of the Center for Universal Design.
“Universal design is an approach to design that incorporates products as well as building features which, to the greatest extent possible, can be used by everyone.” One book and two web sites provide information.
Just as the concept of one-size-fits-all often fails in execution, so does the idea that successfully accommodating people with disabilities merely means adding the required standards-based design features.