Jane Bringolf, Author at - Page 55 of 100

When universal design is not enough

A person with a wheelie walker trying to negotiate the gap between the bus and the kerb. — The gap between the kerb and the bus

Having different contractors for different parts of an infrastructure project is a risk for accessibility. It can literally fall between the cracks. Having overarching principles of universal design is not enough to ensure accessibility of interconnecting infrastructure. When different companies build stations and buses we need to make sure they join up well. This was not the case in Norway.

A conference paper explains the situation for the new Metrobuss System in Trondheim. When the construction of stations and buses was well underway, they discovered they were built to different access standards. This made is impossible for wheelchair users and others to use the new system. Norway has a reputation for promoting universal design. So what did they learn from this situation?

First, there are always challenges in implementing universal design. It’s one thing to have it on a page, and another to have it in real life. Both bus and station manufacturers followed valid guidelines. Harmonising guidelines was the first lesson.

The people involved were lacking knowledge about the ideas an principles of universal design. Second lesson is to have user and expert involvement throughout the process. When issues arise, it is easier to find solutions before it’s too late.

A woman is getting on a bus. The footpath has a built up pad to raise the height so she can get on the bus. When universal design isn't enough. — A bus pad raises the height of the footpath

The paper describes some ‘work-arounds’ – some worked better than others. As with other projects, a ramp is not always a workable solution to patch up a design. The paper has 13 solutions specifically designed to overcome the access issues.

The title of the paper is, Universal Design in the Metrobuss System of Trondheim, Norway – Challenges and Solutions presented at the International Universal Design Conference in 2021 in Finland. It is open access or you can download the PDF version directly.

Abstract

The presentation describes challenges and possible solutions for achieving truly accessible high-class urban public transportation based on a case from Trondheim. The implemented solution did not reflect the wheelchair user’s needs– despite clearly stated ambitions for accessibility.

Ramboll conducted a study comprising a screening of the international market for relevant solutions, combined with interviews with representatives of Public transport authorities. The results were presented to the local user’s representatives, and some solutions tested on location. Based on this process, recommendations were made for short, medium, and long-term solutions.

The project highlights the need for involvement of sufficient professional knowledge of universal design in the planning phase as well as in the implementation phase.

Safe and inclusive neighbourhoods

Neighbourhood design has a role for both road safety and social inclusion. Pedestrian death rates are rising. What’s the cause? Is it smartphones or road design and drivers? Or is it both? Australian figures show the older generation is a big part of the fatality toll. But they are not likely to be looking as smartphones as they walk. So road and street design need another look for safe and inclusive neighbourhoods.

The American Society of Landscape Architects has an excellent guide on neighbourhoods and street design. Safe intersections, wider footpaths, accessible transportation, multi-sensory wayfinding, legible signage, and connected green spaces are addressed in the guide. City of Sydney gets a mention (see picture above) about a larger signage system that helps pedestrians calculate walking times within the city.

Neighbourhood design important for inclusion

An article published in The Conversation about inclusive communities suggests neighbourhood and urban planning have a key role in promoting diversity, and through diversity comes safety and inclusiveness. This is particularly the case for adults with an intellectual disability.

The authors stress the “main issue is not the type of accommodation, but its location. The neighbourhood, its design, and the community of people who live there are all significant factors for supporting safety and inclusion.” And surprisingly the exclusion of cars (in terms of thoroughfares) via a return to the cul-de-sac is seen as a significant design principle to reconsider for inclusive neighbourhoods. Preliminary results found three critical aspects for designing an inclusive neighbourhood:

1. actual and perceived safety within the street and neighbourhood
2. access to services and amenities via walking, cycling or public transport
3. inclusion in community life and local neighbourhood activity.

The title of the article is, Contested spaces: who belongs on the street where you live?

What does Co-design mean? How does it work?

The term co-design is being used more frequently, but what does co-design mean and how does it work? Well, that depends on the context. It could mean a design group working together. Nothing difficult about that concept. Or it could mean involving end users in the design process. This is where it gets more tricky and more questions arise.

At what point do you involve users? Which users do you involve? Will the users have the required knowledge and experience to contribute constructively? Will designers have the skills to be inclusive and listen to users? Participatory action research incorporates both designer and user learning. But these projects are necessarily long and usually have research funding attached. However, they usually produce knowledge and results useful in other settings.

A related concept is co-design in quality improvement, for example, in a hospital setting. Both staff and patients have a role to play in advancing quality improvement. Differing levels of understanding between staff and patients can lead to tokenism. So how can we equalise knowledge so that everyone’s contribution is constructive?

A research team in a Brisbane hospital grappled with this issue. Their research report is written in academic language and not easy to read. Nevertheless, they conclude that effective patient-staff partnerships require specific skills. Briefly, it means adapting to change, and generating new knowledge for continuous improvement.

A framework

The researches developed a framework that includes ten capabilities under three key headings.

1. Personal attributes:

- - Dedicated to improving healthcare
  - Self-aware and reflective
  - Confident and flexible

2. Relationships and communication attributes:

- - Working and learning as a team
  - Collaborating and communicating
  - Advocating for everyone

3. Philosophies/Models:

- - Organisational systems & policy
  - Patient and public involvement best practice
  - Quality improvement principles.

These nine points are connected with the overarching theme of sharing power and leadership.

Title of the article is, “Co-produced capability framework for successful patient and staff partnerships in healthcare quality improvement: results of a scoping review”.

Other posts on co-design include The right to participate and co-design, and Co-design is another skill set.

Reducing cognitive load

Reducing cognitive load means reducing the mental effort required to do something. Making designs easy to use and understand is part of the solution. Whether it’s digital information or walking the street, we can all do with some help by reducing cognitive load so we can process the important messages.

Jon Yablonski developed seven design principles for reducing cognitive load in relation to user interfaces in the digital world. But these are useful tips for other fields of design. The seven principles make a lot of sense and are explained simply. The principles are:

1. 1. Avoid unnecessary elements: less is more
  2. Leverage common design patterns: keep things familiar
  3. Eliminate unnecessary tasks: make it easy to stay focused
  4. Minimize choices for easy decision making
  5. Display choices as a group: to help with decisions
  6. Strive for readability: make it legible
  7. Use iconography with caution: they aren’t always intuitive

Yablonski’s website explains further the concept of cognitive load. Every time you visit a website or a new environment your brain has learn something new. You have to do two things at once – focus on learning how to get around and at the same time, remember why you are there. The mental effort required is called cognitive load. If you get more information than you can handle, the brain slows down. We can’t avoid cognitive load, but designers can help minimise it.

Academic Coaching for Post Secondary Students

Would academic coaching help post secondary students with disabilities achieve their education goals? That was the question for a pilot study. Not surprisingly, the coaching helped. Improved self esteem and confidence helped the students achieve degrees in STEM subjects. The key component of academic coaching for students was helping students with their executive functioning.

The title of the article is, Academic Coaching: Outcomes from a Pilot Group of Postsecondary STEM Students with Disabilities.

Abstract: Faced with poor retention and graduation rates for students with disabilities, postsecondary institutions have experimented with interventions to help students succeed in college. This practice brief describes a pilot initiative in which 41 students with disabilities pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees at three postsecondary institutions engaged in weekly academic coaching sessions primarily aimed at improving students’ executive functioning.

Data collected through an online survey of participants at the end of the initiative suggests that the academic coaching services increased their self-confidence, motivation, and determination to succeed. Participants reported that they gained skills in time management, studying, note taking, organization, prioritization, writing, self-advocacy, and stress management as a result of the academic coaching. Although literature regarding academic coaching and students with disabilities has often focused on students with LD or ADHD, results of the pilot initiative suggest that students with a variety of disabilities can benefit from coaching relationships.

Download PDF of the article.

Universal design is invisible

Universal design is invisible: that is, until it is not there. Refurbishments and upgrades to buildings can embed universal design without anyone noticing. Richard Duncan uses a train station in Norway as a case study and explains how it was done.

Duncan’s article, Right Under Your Nose: Universal Design in Norway is an easy to read article and is based on Olav Rand Bringa’s work. When done well, universal design minimises the need for separate designs for people with disability. For example, ‘accessible’ exit routes were previously signed with the international symbol. In the new scheme, many of the signs were removed. Yet travellers with disability did not comment on their absence. The design itself indicated where to go.

And there is more…

There is more in the article about the work of Bringa that traces the history of universal design in Norway. Two surveys from 2018 reveal a gradual change in attitude about universal design. More people understand the concept and agree with the principle of, “Universal design is necessary for some and useful for many”.

Norway is a global leader in implementing UD strategies. Norway Universally Designed by 2025, is their landmark document, which focuses on inclusive policies where everyone is made responsible.

Olav Bringa has written several articles beginning in 1999 when Norway first embraced universal design principles. They are:

Universal Design and Visitability: From accessibility to zoning. It’s Chapter 6.

Progress on Universal Design in Norway: A review

Universal Design as a Technical Norm and Juridical Term – A Factor of Development or Recession? Bringa discusses the importance of language in the quest for inclusion. It’s open access.

Richard Duncan has written a similar article on the invisibility of good universal design. This one is about automatic doors.

Photo by Olav Rand Bringa showing the improved and uncluttered entrance to the station.

Inside out for mental health

The 1980s saw a turning point for people with mental health conditions. Reagan and Thatcher declared that the asylum model was dead. Australia soon followed suit with this idea. But what to do instead? And what could be done with these huge Victorian building complexes? A facility in Toronto, Canada, came up with a great idea, which was quickly copied in South Australia. Jan Golembiewski explains how the place was turned inside out for mental health.

Golembiewski writes a short story about the Toronto experience in the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health. Similarly to many institutions it took up a considerable amount of land. Urban Strategies won the contract to redevelop the whole site. It involved removing high walls and extending local roads into the site. So, in effect they were turning the facility inside out.

The design incorporated outward facing units which were connected to the urban grid. The open space then became shared space. Patients run a cafe which has some stories to tell according to Golembiewski. He says the people on the street are just a little more colourful. Mental health professionals are ready at hand to keep an eye out generally. The project has turned out to be good for patients and the community.

The title of the article is, Turning the City Inside Out for Mental Health, and the Canadian facility is the Center for Addiction and Mental Health. It’s an easy and interesting read.

Age and Dementia Streetscapes Toolkit

Around 70% of people with dementia are staying in their home environments. They can continue with their everyday lives for many years in the community if they get a bit of help in the form of supportive urban design. To the rescue comes the Age and Dementia Toolkit.

The toolkit is a practical guide based on participatory research. People working in local government will find it very useful as well as:

1. Councils and built environment contractors
2. Planning processes
3. Design of infrastructure and maintenance
4. Use as and auditing tool for assessing compliance with age and dementia friendly design principles

Encouraging walking

We know that walking has health benefits for all age groups and it’s also important for dementia prevention and management. But for people with dementia, walking the neighbourhood becomes more challenging.

Moonee Valley City Council in Victoria wanted to know how to make environments more welcoming. They commissioned a project to find out what design features are most important to older residents. The toolkit is the result of much consultation within local communities and shows how a few tweaks can make places more vibrant, supportive and accessible.

The consultation process focused on one main street. It was chosen because it was surrounded by a high density of older people. They found that shops had a role to play especially where shopkeepers knew residents by name.

The toolkit is easily accessible and simple to read for a variety of audiences, from members of the community to people working across all social and built environment disciplines. The toolkit has good examples and case studies.

Getting out and about in the community is part of the picture – home design needs to be considered too.

The process of developing the toolkit was also published in the Journal of Transport and Health. Extracts from the abstract follow.

Extract from Abstract

Age’n’dem was a participatory design process with older residents of Moonee Valley. It informed streetscape design, ensured access for older people including people with dementia, and to ensured measures were inclusive. The experiential learning process informed redesign of Union Road streetscape in Ascot Vale, Victoria. This street operated as an intact and attractive environment for shopping, and was surrounded by the highest density of older people in the municipality. Shops played an important role in supporting people to age in place.

Shopkeepers played an informal role by looking out for regulars, and helping out when and if something happened. Residents relied on it. Walking up the street, passing the time in a familiar place and dropping in on shopkeepers had become part of a daily ritual for many locals. What the shopkeepers did informally was better than any response any community service could offer.

Our role became one of supporting a natural and organic response by listening, watching and learning. We knew that If we made the street more comfortable we could sustain older residents’ interest as they age. We also knew that walking plays a key role in dementia prevention. Investing in local’s knowledge was important. Process is everything. Our most articulate supporters are the older residents themselves talking on national radio, and statewide press.

Poorly designed building wins award

How can a building that compromises safety win an architectural award? Answer: by avoiding any reference to accessibility. A public building in Canada won an award, but the building is not user friendly for all. The video below shows how designing for designers or awards instead of users can produce hazardous results. That’s how a poorly designed building wins an award.

A blind user demonstrates the hazards whether using steps, the ramp, or even the elevator! It is easy to see how some users would think this thoughtless design. This is a great educational video on why handrails and ramps need to be done in a particular way. Universally accessible design is clever design, but this building is not clever. You can also read the article in the star.com

Road safety for wheelchair users

A study in Sweden tackles the issue of ‘vulnerable’ road users, particularly powered wheelchair users and older people. European Union data show that fatal accidents involving vulnerable road users is equal to vehicle accidents. So what are the issues for the road safety for wheelchair users?

Researchers watched wheelchair users moving around the streets to see how they interacted with the built environment. Dealing with traffic was one aspect, but uneven surfaces, steep slopes and other pedestrians also play a part in safety.

Traffic conditions have not adapted to vulnerable road users and this is an area for improvement. Safety relies on individual coping strategies to deal with risks. Researchers found that one third of accidents were due to differences in ground level, typically the kerb.

The title of the article is, Obstacles and risks in the traffic environment for users of powered wheelchairs in Sweden. It is open access. The study was included different disciplines: design, physiotherapy, disability studies and biomechanics. The long term goal is to reduce accidents and reinforce active participation for people with disability.

Highlights from the study

- - Video observation and interviews can identify risks and obstacles in traffic environment.
  - The degree of accessibility affects the degree of risk taking in traffic environment.
  - Identified risks were due to deficiencies in built environment and poor maintenance.
  - Other risks were related to interaction with other road users and poor visibility
  - Negative impacts of coldness, precipitation and poor snow clearing.

From the Abstract

The aim of this interdisciplinary qualitative study was to identify obstacles and risks for Powered Wheelchair (PWC) users by exploring their behaviour and experiences in traffic environments.

Videos and in-depth interviews with 13 PWC users aged 20–66 were analysed for this study. The videos include real-life outdoor observations exploring experiences of PWC use on a daily basis in Sweden.

Participants faced and dealt with various obstacles and risks in order to reach their destination. For example, uneven surfaces, differences in ground levels, steep slopes, as well as interactions with other road users and the influence of weather conditions. This resulted in PWC users constantly accommodating and coping with the shortcomings of the vehicle and the environment.

There are still major challenges for preventing obstacles and risks in the traffic environment for PWC users. To discern PWC users in traffic accident and injury data bases, a start would be to register type of aid used for persons involved in an accident.

Furthermore, to emphasise PWC users’ role as vulnerable road users, it may also be advantageous to describe them as drivers rather than users when navigating the traffic environment.

By incorporating emerging knowledge of PWC users’ prerequisites and needs, and including them in research and traffic planning, the society will grow safer and more inclusive, and become better prepared for meeting future demands on accessibility from an ageing population.

Buying power of people with disability

Are marketing people missing out on a buying power of people with disability? The answer is likely, yes. A Nielsen Report on consumers with disability, including older people, states what is obvious to anyone interested in universal design and inclusion. “Disabilities span across age, race, and gender so there is reason to believe consumers with disabilities should not differ much from the general population.” So what is the buying power of people with disability?

The report, Reaching Prevalent, Diverse Consumers with Disabilities found that one in four households of their sample group of 86,000 people had one or more person with a disability. That’s an important statistic because consumers with disability are higher spenders in some categories. That’s despite tending to have lower incomes.

Marketing and advertising people will find insights into disability and their significance in this report. For example, consumers with disability are more likely to have a pet. So they are more likely to buy pet food and related products.

Marketing departments influence what is designed – it’s their job to find out what to sell. If marketing professionals dismiss people with disability, their company will too. An inclusive marketing approach helps the cause of inclusion albeit with a profit focus.

This report is also featured on the Silver Blog which is focused on marketing to older people. There is another item on the dangers of marketing specifically to older adults as this borders on ageism. Older people want brands to focus on needs and interests, not their age.

The title of the report is Reaching Prevalent, Diverse Consumers with Disabilities, and was published in 2016. However, the content remains current. The graphs are from the Nielsen Company report.

Author: Jane Bringolf