Steve’s Story.
This is the fourth and last in the series of stories about wheelchair users building a new home. Steve is married with two children and tells his story about building a two storey project home. Similarly to George, he had to make compromises when the builder failed to deliver on promises. However, when allowed to speak directly with tradespeople, some of the problems were easily solved.
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Mike’s Story
I interviewed four wheelchair users who had recently built a home as part of my PhD research project. I was interested in the process and the interaction with house-building professionals. In coming newsletters I will feature the other three interviews. Mike tells how he engaged an architect because he had little confidence in a project home builder understanding what he wanted. However, this did not result in plain sailing.
George’s Story
George who comes from a family of builders. He relates his experiences with a project home builder and how he had to overcome resistance to incorporating basic access features.
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Tomas and Lisa’s Story.
Tomas tells his story about designing a home for two wheelchair users and their children. Unlike Mike, Tomas and Lisa had an easier time. Tomas also provides some comparisons with Europe.
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A builder’s perspective
This is Sam’s story. As part of my PhD research project I interviewed a family member who built a home for a relative who uses a wheelchair. It transpired he was also a builder. The interview shows that being a builder with a family member with a disability does not always make for a better understanding of when and where regulations apply. It also shows how misunderstood the whole area of accessibility, public domain standards and housing design can get mixed up.
I interviewed four wheelchair users who had recently built a home as part of my PhD research project. I was interested in the process and the interaction with house-building professionals.
Jane Bringolf, Website Editor
Evan Wilkinson outlines the process that Sport and Recreation Victoria went through to bring about a better understanding of the principles of universal design. 
Michael D W Richards presents an interesting article on the need to standardize zoo signage so that everyone can understand, particularly DO NOT FEED signs. 
What kind of signs inform and appeal to zoo visitors most? This was an answer Richards at wanted to know. Using qualitative and quantitative research methods he found the answer. It seems the photographic signs were most popular, but that is not the whole story. 
Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo applied the principles of universal design during upgrade and extension works. 
Sport and Recreation Victoria and YMCA want to increase awareness and applicability of universal design in residential camps. The image shows how any 
Probably there is no one-size fits all. The literature review highlights projects that attempted to achieve universal design or user-centred design by consulting with users throughout the design process.
Mark Relf traced the history of disability access and universal design in Australia. His presentation, 
Chris Nicholls discusses the design and construction of his family home from the perspective of a wheelchair user. He explains why some design features, which are often referred to as disability features, are not necessarily needed by every wheelchair user or person with disability. He also explains which features were important and why. His story shows why we need to mandate basic access features so that people like Chris don’t have to fight the builder all the way. Too many times the builder thought “near enough was good enough”.
Sofi De Lesantis is Manager of Metropolitan Community Facilities at Sport and Recreation Victoria. Her team works in partnership with local government to plan and invest in new and improved sport and recreation facilities that aim to meet the needs of all users across metropolitan Melbourne.