Author: Jane Bringolf

World Cup: Accessible by Design

Major sporting events offer great opportunities to design and build inclusive infrastructure and services. The FIFA World Cup in Qatar is no exception. The Accessible by Design: Building a legacy of inclusion report sets out Qatar’s challenges and solutions.

The aim is to “ensure stadia and the entire experience, inside and outside the stadium, are fully accessible to all. This includes designing and planning for accessible hotels, transportation, tourist attractions and more”.

The policy recommendations in the report “provide solid and practical guidelines to design and redesign cities that are equally accessible to all”.

Front cover of Accessible by Design report.

Qatar has worked with organisations representing people with disability to meet their pledge to deliver the most accessible World Cup to date. This means both inside and outside the stadia – hotels, transportation, and tourist attractions. The aim is to leave a lasting legacy and a national priority for greater accessibility across Qatar.

Report and recommendations

The report is in four sections with an executive summary with a focus on urban design and the FIFA World Cup event. The first section discusses the prevalence of and disadvantages for people with disability. Five levels of accessible and inclusive urban design are presented based on the UN’s Economic and Social Affairs work.

The second section relates specifically to the World Cup with diagrams and explanations of how Qatar will achieve its aims. The third section is about what to expect at the tournament. With eight stadia all within a relatively close proximity to each other. That means fans can see more than one match in a day.

The fourth section has conclusions and policy recommendations. At the end of the tournament it will be necessary to check the experiences of people with disability. And also, whether the tournament left a lasting legacy of service and behavioural change.

The report closes with six policy recommendations. Similarly to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, setting up an authority to continue the work is one of them. There is not much new in the report for countries that have policies on access and inclusion. However, it is good to see their aims and objectives set out in the report. While people with disability are being considered, we know that there are some other groups who remain on the outside.

The report is published by WISH and draws on the WISH 2022 Forum on Accessible Design and Health recently held in Doha.

WHO age friendly cities: does it work?

The World Health Organization’s guide to age-friendly cities and active ageing set the trend for policy in 2002. The publication, Global Age-Friendly Cities: A Guide, supports the age-friendly framework. This inspired the development of the Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. So how successful has this age-friendly movement been?

Front cover of the WHO guide for age friendly cities.

The longevity revolution is happening now. So it is a good time to review the success or otherwise of the age-friendly movement and the WHO framework for age-friendly cities.

The WHO Guide was initially designed to be a bottom-up participatory process. The flexibility of the process enabled individual cities and communities to work on local issues. However, it hasn’t quite worked that way. As with all participative processes, it comes down to whose voices are being heard at the discussion table. And it depends on whether the city or community is urban or rural and on the resources available.

Edgar Liu has checked out Australian policies across the three tiers of government. He wanted to find out if the WHO guide and framework inspired policy making. And if it did, to what extent. In a nutshell, these policies did not fully reflect socioeconomic and cultural diversity. Also, the policy focus remains on care and support services, which conflicts with the recommendations for connecting with multiple policy areas.

The title of the paper is, The World Health Organization’s impact on age-friendly policymaking: A case study on Australia.

WHO age friendly logo of 8 petals showing the 8 domains of life.
The WHO Age-Friendly Cities Framework

Abstract

This paper reflects on whether and how the World Health Organization (WHO) inspires age-friendly policymaking across different levels of government. This is done via a case study in which we analyse the policies of Australia’s three-tiered federated government system against the WHO’s eight core age-friendly cities domains.

Findings suggest that membership of the Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities did not appear to overtly inspire the development of age-friendly policies across Australian governments.

Content analysis shows there is an overwhelming policy focus on care and support services, with little attention to cultural diversity. This reflects an outdated portrayal of debilitation in later life and a lack of recognition of how diverse circumstances impact the ageing process and corresponding support needs.

Our findings also reveal the challenges of a three-tiered federated system, where varying financial and authoritative capacities have influenced how different governments acknowledge and respond to population ageing.

Notably, local governments—the main level of implementation targeted by the WHO—are invariably constrained in developing their own age-friendly policies and may opt to adopt those of higher levels of government instead. These challenges will likely impact other resource-limited governments in responding to the needs of their emerging ageing populations.

You can read more in a related post Manchester and Brussels: A place to grow old.

City Access Map

CITY ACCESS MAP is a web application that shows how cities across the world are doing in terms of accessibility. It’s open source and covers any urban area with more than 100,000 residents. It computes walking accessibility down to the block level. It’s a tool for almost anyone who has an interest in cities that have access to services within a 15 minute walk.

A city view of the city access map. Short walking distances are shown in yellow and orange and long distances in purple.
A close up view of a city on the CITY ACCESS MAP

The CITYACCESSMAP is interactive and shows the differences in cities across the globe. For example, it shows that Bogota, Colombia is one of the most accessible cities. Orlando USA on the other hand is one of the least accessible. France is generally accessible with many cities reaching high levels of accessibility.

Australia is represented by Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Searching by city brings a close up view of the suburbs. In Sydney, it shows good accessibility in and around the CBD. However, as expected as you move to outer suburbs accessibility reduces considerably.

It should be noted that the term “accessibility” mainly refers to access to services rather than an accessible built environment. The tool is worth investigating as a planner and administrator in any field. If nothing else, it is interesting to see how countries compare.

For IT people wanting to know the detail of the map design there is more information in a separate section. You can download processed data for any city in the application.

The scientific research is also available and you can contribute to the project by contacting Leonardo Nicoletti.

Allocating street-space equitably

Streets are more than a footpath and a stretch of bitumen or cobbles. They are integral to our way of life and have different uses at different times for different people. That’s what makes them complex places. Tensions between type of use and different users are sometimes difficult to solve. So how do you allocate street-space equitably and efficiently?

Community consultations are a great help and result in localised solutions. Perhaps this is a good thing. But is there a better way of doing this? Paulo Anciaes thinks there is and sets it out in a conference paper.

A view of the street in Lisbon showing a narrow footpath, street parking and a row of shops with apartments above. Street-space is at a premium.

However, appraisal showed that some redesign options go against technical/design standards or political priorities.

Anciaes proposes a new process for streetspace reallocation using various tools. The tools include option generation, performance indicators and comparison of options. His case study using these tools showed that allocating more space to some street users brought benefit to others. But redesign options are not always compatible with technical standards or political priorities.

Lisbon case study

The process of developing the tools and their application were applied in five European cities. A busy street in Lisbon city centre was the subject of this particular paper. There were high demands for walking, cycling, car and bus movement, plus parking, loading and place activities. And street furniture limited the movement of pedestrians.

The political priorities were for walking and not restricting bus movement. Added to these was the need for social interaction and more greenery. This is all in a street only 22m wide.

The title of the paper is, Streetspace allocation – new tools and methods, with a Lisbon application.

Abstract

The allocation of space to different uses in busy city streets is a complex and contentious process. Decisions to reallocate streetspace are usually based on public consultation and modelling of a few street redesign options, but results are not compared systematically. In addition, the set of options considered is usually incomplete.

This paper proposes a new process for streetspace reallocation, including option generation (with online and physical tools), estimation of performance indicators (with microsimulation), and comparison of options (with a new appraisal tool). The process was applied to the redesign of a busy street in Lisbon. Several options were generated, all involving reducing the street-space allocated to general motorised traffic.

Microsimulation showed that allocating more space to some street uses also bring benefits to other uses. The option to allocate more space to both bus users and pedestrians does not deteriorate movement by other modes. However, appraisal showed that some redesign options go against technical/design standards or political priorities.

Design Thinking: Everyone is creative

Elise Roy was told at the age of ten that she would lose her hearing. But her feelings of fear turned into feelings of gratitude. That’s because she gets to experience the world in a unique way. Elise firmly believes that what helps people with disability is what will help make and design a better world. Its wrapped up in design thinking.

As a disability rights lawyer, Elise used to spend a lot of time focused on enforcing the law. However, she believes there is a better way to solve the issues other than enforcing the law – design thinking. She explains design thinking as a process for innovation and problem solving.

Elise Roy explains more in her 13 minute TEDx talk. Her explanation mirrors much of what universal design and co-design is about. There is also a transcript on the website.


“I believe that losing my hearing was one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received,” says Elise Roy. As a disability rights lawyer and design thinker, she knows that being Deaf gives her a unique way of experiencing and reframing the world — a perspective that could solve some of our largest problems. As she says: “When we design for disability first, you often stumble upon solutions that are better than those when we design for the norm.”

Multi-sensory storytelling

The great thing about universal design is discovering another level of design solutions. That’s why universal design is not locked in time like a standard. Sometimes a design solution includes some assistive technology. Simulating the experiences of people with different disabilities so that people without disability can understand is not new. But the Wondrous Goggles multi-sensory storytelling design strategy is new.

A headshot of a person wearing the Wondrous Goggles.

Creating a culture of inclusion is less about designing for empathy, charity, or diversity and more about designing places that all people can use.

Various methods and technologies for simulating disability have been developed over the years. These include sight-restricting glasses, restrictive gloves and virtual reality technology. But having low vision is more than not being able to see things – it affects the way space and how things in that space are experienced as well.

In a conference paper by Janice Rieger and Marianella Chamorro-Koc, explain the multisensorial experience of the Wondrous Goggles. The goggles were an outcome of an indoor navigation project with the aim of helping museum and venue managers understand the perspective of people with limited vision.

The research project was carried out at Queensland University of Technology. The researchers realised they needed something that went beyond just replicating a type of vision loss. What was needed was a lived experience explanation to go with it. And so the Wondrous Goggles were the born.

More than virtual reality goggles

The difference between these goggles and virtual reality goggles is the audio content. The goggles immerse the wearer in a process of sensing environments differently and at the same time they listen to people with low vision explain their experience of the museum.

The title of the paper is A Multisensorial Storytelling Design Strategy to Build Empathy and a Culture of Inclusion. It’s open access on the IOS Press website. It was one of the papers presented at the UD2022 Conference in Italy. There is a short outline on Linked In as well.

This type of technology assists non disabled people to devise a more inclusive, and universally designed experience.

Transport and age-friendly cities

Unintended consequences from policy actions are not new. Sometimes things come undone in those little details that seemed unimportant at the time. Sometimes it’s because policy actions come from different parts of an overall system. Transport is a case in point. Transport is about the whole journey – from the front gate to the destination and home again. It’s more than cars, buses and trains – it’s footpaths, information systems and supporting infrastructure. And transport is a key element of age-friendly cities.

Transportation is a social determinant of health – particularly for older people. According to the World Health Organization their “lives are guided by the available transportation system”.

One potential policy outcome is that distinct actions, which address different facets of the same overall approach, undermine one another.

An older man and woman are walking away from the camera down a street. They are wearing backpacks and holding hands. Where do you want to live when you grow older?

Australian researchers set about assessing policy actions for supporting older people’s transportation in Greater Sydney. The analysis revealed unwanted consequences because some actions were undermining each other. They also found systemic constraints and the failure to account for small, but important, details.

Older people’s mobility applies to land use, open and public space, supplementary transport, and community transport. This means that policy makers need to examine interactions between different parts of the system so they can foresee potential unwanted consequences. Then they can do something about it.

The title of the article is, Using systems thinking to assess the functioning of an “Age-Friendly City” governance network in Australia.

The authors also produced a Policy Brief based on the research with their recommendations:

  • 1. Coordinate plans for residential and public transport development.
  • 2. Establish key performance indicators for creating and funding new footpaths.
  • 3. Improve cross-sector information flow.
  • 4. Increase the predictability of funding for health and social care transport services.
Front page of the Policy Brief showing a man and a woman on a bus wearing masks. Age friendly cities.

From the abstract

Age-Friendly Cities (AFC) is a framework for promoting healthy ageing through local actions. We use systems thinking to assess potential outcomes of actions to support older people’s mobility, undertaken within an AFC commitment in Greater Sydney.

Four approaches to support older people’s mobility were identified and situated to the Multiple Governance Framework: land use, open and public space, supplementary transport, and community transport.

Analysis revealed potential for unwanted consequences associated with each, which can be generalised into three generic potential outcomes for other jurisdictions to consider.
One recommendation is for policy actors to examine feedback interactions between actions so that they can foresee a wider range of outcomes and take defensive action against those unwanted.

This research identifies what to look for, in terms of potential outcomes, and where to look, in terms of the level of decision-making. This research offers a new way to assess the functioning of AFC governance networks by their collective outcomes and challenges the standards for the evaluation of AFC.

Ageing and Mobility: Getting out and about

An older woman using a walking cane walks over a paved section towards the roadway. Ageing and mobility, getting out and about. Jane Bringolf participated in a webinar or the Australian Institute of Traffic Planning and Management, which includes anyone involved in transport. She covered 5 basic features older people need to encourage them to continue getting out and about. The content of the presentation, Ageing and Mobility, is on the YouTube video below.

After running 23 workshops with older people and local government across NSW, five key elements emerged. They are footpaths, seating, lighting, wayfinding and toilets. In rural areas, parking was also an issue. These were covered in a previous post along with a straightforward checklist on do’s and don’ts. 

The car becomes a mobility device as people get older, which puts them at odds with the policy push to get out of the car. Older people feel safer either as a driver or a passenger. The fear of tripping and falling reduces their confidence for walking on uneven footpaths.

Parking adjacent to shops and services in rural towns was also an issue. This was sometimes due to the main street also being the main highway where street parking is restricted. 

Ageing and mobility is more than cycles, buses and trains. Many older people just want to access their local neighbourhood to shop and socialise. 

 

Co-design is not new

Scandinavians have a reputation for good looking and functional design. But there is a gap in the story of an evolving design culture across society. Designers began involving users in their design processes in the 1970s. So co-design is not new and is not a fad, but it is absent from design history.

Maria Görandsdotter says there are two probable reasons why user-centred design has been left out. One is that history has favoured aesthetics, meanings and impact of design rather than the design process. The other is that little has been written about the way design methods have evolved. It’s all been about Scandinavian design and not designing.

… the design methods movement sought to understand and describe ‘the new design methods that have appeared in response to a worldwide dissatisfaction with traditional procedures’.

A desk has highlighter pens in different colours, working papers and a smart phone.

Görandsdotter traces different histories in her book chapter including collaboration with experts in other fields. In 1971 the idea that only professional designers should design was challenged at an international conference on design participation. This is where the lines began to blur between designer and user.

There could be two reasons…

Görandsdotter presents two design histories to open up thinking about what design has been and what it might be in the future. Ergonomic user-centred design methods expanded the role of designers in relation to users. This was linked to Swedish disability legislation and research funding. Participatory design came about as a result of designers’ and users’ co-development of computer-based work tools. It expanded ideas of what design was, how how it happens, and with what kinds of materials. 

For anyone interested in design, and particularly collaborative design, this is an interesting read. It puts co-design into an historical context. In doing so, it shows it is not the latest fashion or fad in designing.

The title of the chapter is, Designing Together: On Histories of Scandinavian User-Centred Design. It is published in the open access book, Nordic Design Cultures in Transformation,1960-1980.

From the abstract

This chapter focuses on the emergence of user-centred and participatory Scandinavian design ideas and practices in 1970s Sweden. Many of the concepts and methods still highly present – supported as well as contested – in contemporary design stem from the turn towards collaborative designing through the late 1960s and early 1990s.

However, in Nordic design history, these radical changes in design practice have been more or less invisible. A shift in perspective is required to address this historical gap.

The two examples: The first highlights how ergonomic user-centred design methods expanded the role of designers and designing in relation to users. The second discusses the challenges of designers’ and users’ co-development expanded ideas of what design was, how and with whom designing took place, and with what kinds of materials.

Co-designing public buildings

An Australian article looks at co-design processes specifically for people with disability. The researchers explored stakeholder perceptions and experiences. The findings support participation of people with disability in architectural design processes.

The title of the article is, Co-design in the context of universal design: An Australian case study exploring the role of people with disabilities in the design of public buildings. You will need institutional access for a free read. Or, ask for a copy from the author, Valerie Watchorn on ResearchGate.

A graphic of a group of people including a wheelchair user.

From the abstract

This study aimed to explore stakeholder perceptions and experiences on co-design processes. Twenty six people with disability, advocates, and design professionals participated in workshops. Four major themes emerged: there are challenges to practicing co-design; co-design is inclusive, accessible, and genuine; co-design is planned and embedded in all design stages; and co-design delivers positive outcomes. 

Findings strongly support participation of people with disabilities in architectural design, highlight challenges and limitations to current practice, and provide insight into factors that optimise outcomes and the experiences of those involved.

Tips for an inclusive museum experience

Salvador Dali is well known for his unique way of looking at the world and expressing it in his art. There are six Dali museums in the world. But how many of them are physically accessible with equal opportunity to participate? The Salvador Dali Museum in St Petersburg Florida is the subject of Jamie Mays’ case study.

Mays begins the thesis with an general introduction and a literature review of disability history and accommodations. Universal design is discussed in the context of disability and the current need to ask for accommodations. Mays draws links between Dali’s creative mind and universal design.

View of the outside of the museum showing two large blue egg shapes attached to a concrete rectangle. Together they form the shape of the building.

The museum experience is unique because it needs to consider the physical design of the gallery and how visitors will access and engage with the content.

Mays proposes a walk-through audit process which is designed as a model of continuous self-assessment within the museum. The results of the physical accessibility audit is reported in a table with comments on accessibility. It covers, entry, signage, and wheelchair access to all parts of the venue.

A second chart covers communication and information results. This is where improvements are needed. There is partial accessibility for people who are deaf or hard of hearing and for people with low vision.

Mays provides several recommendations for improvement including setting up a disability access committee.

The title of the thesis is, Salvador Dali Museum and Accessibility: Accommodation, Universal Design, and a More Inclusive Museum Experience.

The Salvador Dali Museum has a website with an accessibility tab. It lists the services available including quiet hours for people who are neurodiverse.

The Dali Museum is operating within compliance standards of accessibility. However, accessibility cannot stop at physical access. All visitors should have equal opportunity to participate in the content curated and educational experiences that museums provide.

Abstract

There are centuries worth of disability history and a dozen types of institutions, activities, and policies available that could be used to conduct an analysis of accommodation, modern-day use of Universal Design (UD), and an accessible world.

This study will focus on the status of participation, accessibility, and inclusion of art and museums. Specifically, looking at The Dalí Museum which is host to a collection of permanent work by Salvador Dalí and features a special, rotating, exhibit throughout the year.

Salvador Dalí, as an artist, pushed the boundaries of art, was a leader, and major contributor to the Surrealist movement as it is known today. He was described as “genius” but, despite his contribution and talent, was ostracized by other artists in his time (Isbouts & Brown, 2021).

The study of accessibility, and inclusion, for the participation of art museums will attempt to follow the example set by Salvador Dalí: analyze what is in practice, what can be reimagined, and design an experience that provides access to the cultural information of The Dalí Museum.

Learning Styles: Not the same as UDL

If you’ve attended a personal or professional development workshop in the last 30 years you’ve probably heard of learning styles. It’s supposed to help you understand your own style to be a “better learner”. And teachers and instructors design their courses based on these learning styles.

Although this model is thoroughly challenged by research, it is still being promoted. Teachers and instructors believe they will design and deliver better learning experiences. However this is not the case.

A blog article, Learning styles: the limiting power of labels talks about debunking the myths around this topic. The process of labelling is discussed and once you or someone else assigns a label to you it becomes fixed. It becomes the background to your self-talk. It might even hold you back from wanting to learn more or apply for a job. Learning is much more than this and it is affected by our own attitudes. This is a thoughtful article for everyone, not just learners and teachers. And easy to read.

Universal Design for Learning is not learning styles 

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a better way to consider the way people learn in all its diversity. A blog article, Universal Design for Learning is Not Learning Styles explains. 

As the article above states, UDL is is not the same as learning styles. It’s been debunked because it doesn’t have supporting evidence. In contrast, research on UDL has been widely replicated and grounded in learning sciences, neuroscience, and cognitive science. And it’s not just for learners with a learning difficulty – it’s good for all learners just like kerb cuts help everyone. 

Implementing UDL could help learners who cannot keep up with their peers, or have some learning disabilities. UDL does not just provide accessibility, but it eliminates barriers so every learner can succeed. Extensive research shows that the use of UDL supports strategic learning and enhance learners’ learning experience. CAST is a lead organisation in the field of UDL – it has many resources and frameworks for teachers and instructors. The video below gives an overview. 

See also the post on the myth of learning styles.