Author: Jane Bringolf

A universal design approach to all building types: A guide

Front cover of the guide.What does it mean to take a universal design approach to designing all building types? In a nutshell, it means designing for as many people as possible. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach either, although some say it is. 

The concept of universal design has come a long way from its roots in barrier-free-design. It covers everything from tangible objects to customer service. 

A guide from the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design covers all types of public buildings: offices, transport, retail, shopping centres, restaurants and bars, museums, galleries, libraries, entertainment centres, religious buildings, hotels, outdoor areas, parks and historic sites. The whole guide takes a universal design approach to all aspects of building design and across all types of buildings. It’s a very detailed guide, but the sections have clear subheadings. The section on housing was updated in 2023.

The Building for Everyone guide contains checklists for each section and pictures show some of the design issues arising. This is a comprehensive publication and brings together all building types together in one place. This makes it a good resource for local authorities that need to join the dots between all buildings in their community. It is also useful for planners and designers involved in one or more of the building types. 

Also, have a look at Designing Homes with Dementia in Mind. 

 

European universal design standard

Front cover of the Design for All standard.Universal design is a design thinking process so a universal design standard is a contradiction in terms. Standards are fixed where universal design is a continuous improvement process. However, where designers cannot grasp the concept of an inclusive thinking process, a set of design directions is needed. Hence a new European universal design standard for products, goods and services. The standard sets out requirements and recommendations for extending the customer base for products and services. It’s for organisations that design and manufacture products and/or provide services. The aim is to ensure products and services are available to the widest range of users possible. Diverse user needs, characteristics, capabilities and preferences area all covered. It is based on processes of user involvement and building on accessibility knowledge. The standard can also be used for complying with legislation and to advance corporate social responsibility.  The standard was developed by Ireland’s National Disability Authority that houses the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design. The document has the title “design for all” which is a recognised European term, but notes that universal design, barrier-free-design and transgenerational design are the same thing.  Design for All – Accessibility following a Design for All approach in products, goods and services – Extending the range of users can be purchased from the standards authority.  There is a media release explaining a little more. 

Personas for digital technology

12 Faces representing the 12 personas.There’s nothing like asking potential users what they think of a new product. Even better if you involve them in the design process. But sometimes it’s not possible and designers resort to personas. This is often the case in digital technology. The Inclusive Design Toolkit has a suite of 12 personas representing a broad view of potential users. Each one has a story to tell about their lifestyle and their connection to technology. Many factors affect digital exclusion: prior experience, competence, motivation and general attitude about technology. The personas highlight these factors to make it easier for designers to be inclusive. Each persona has a description of their lifestyle, competency with technology, and physical and sensory capabilities.  The online resource is part of the Inclusive Design Toolkit with the option to download a PDF. You can take a deeper dive into the personas as a family set. This takes personas one step further by introducing family interactions. The Inclusive Design Toolkit also has an exclusion calculator that estimates the number of people unable to use a product or service.  Cover of the book Inclusive design toolkitThe Inclusive Design Toolkit is based on thorough research over more than ten years. The personas were produced as part of a project to improve the inclusivity of railway journeys.  The team wrote a conference paper about using personas for product development. They assessed the task of carrying a tray of food across a cafe, taking into account how using mobility aids restricts hand use. The title of the paper is, Evaluating inclusivity using quantitative personas. The full paper is available by request from ResearchGate.   

Heavenly stairways the safe way

A man sits on the stairs in a home. The stairs are timber but there are no handrails only glass sides. The stairway is open to the living area.There is much to think about when designing and fitting stairs in a home, whether a new home or a renovation. Denver architect Doug Walters has 12 tips for safer stairways in his web article, “Beautiful Hazard”. Home stairway design should be both good looking and safe. The article uses photos to illustrate points.

There is a link to some elegant solutions. I note that nothing is said about extending the handrail to the final tread in some examples.

An article on stairway design using architecture magazine pictures, researchers found the lack of handrails occurred most often. The article includes several photographs and a list of the missing safety features. Available on ReseachGate. 

The Australian Human Rights Commission produced a document in 2008, “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly”, and it focuses on stairways and the placement of tactiles, handrails, and contrasting nosings – a good reference guide on what not to do.

UD2021: Published papers for the conference

Header image for the conference.Griffith University supported the 4th Australian Universal Design Conference held in Melbourne by publishing full papers and extended abstracts. See the links below for access.

Community-based studios for enhancing students’ awareness of universal design principles. Hing-Wah Chau.

Universal design in housing: Reporting on Australia’s obligations to the UNCRPD. Note: The presentation updated delegates on the latest information about the recent change to the National Construction Code. Margaret Ward (ANUHD) and Hugh Bartram (Victorian Government).

From niche to mainstream: local government and the specialist disability housing sector. Linda Martin-Chew and Rosie Beaumont. 

Thriving at School: How interoception is helping children and young people in learning everyday. Emma Goodall (workshop).

Universal Design and Communication Access. Georgia Burn.

Achieving visual contrast in built, transport and information environments for everyone, everywhere, everyday. Penny Galbraith. 

Mobility Scooters in the Wild: Users’ Resilience and Innovation. Theresa Harada.

Understanding the Differences between Universal Design and Inclusive Design implementation: The Case of an Indonesian Public Library. Gunawan Tanuwidjaja (Poster).

Accessible Events: A multi-dimensional Approach to Temporary Universal Design. Tina Merk.

Everyone, everywhere, everyday: A case for expanding universal design to public toilets. Katherine Webber. 

Reframing Universal Design: Creating Short Videos for Inclusion. Janice Rieger (workshop). 

*Designing with the Digital Divide to Design Technology for All. Jenna Mikus. 

Faith is wearing a white shirt. She has a mix of grey and dark hair and is smiling at the camera.

The papers were launched at the CUDA Transportation webinar in October 2020 by Dr Faith Valencia-Forrester, Griffith University. 

*Published May 2021.

Accessible Eco Homes

Front cover of report.Can homes be both eco-friendly and accessible? If not, it means people with disability and older people are excluded from the benefits of an eco-home. Part M of the UK building regulations require a level threshold and a downstairs toilet. The Lifetime Home standard provides for more flexibility for adaptation. Accessible eco homes are possible with the help of designers 

A study by Amita Bhakta found the following issues with the eco home movement:

    • Sustainability has overridden accessibility in sustainable communities in the UK.
    • Disability requires greater understanding that it is more than mobility impairment. 
    • Space beyond the home should be included in the meaning of home.
    • Top-down policy is not enough – co-design is required.
    • Planners, architects and builders in eco-housing do not consider bodily differences.

The title of the report available from Academia.edu is Accessibility in Sustainable Communities. It includes a discussion about whether sustainable communities should cater for all needs. But Bhakta points out that sustainable communities cannot regard themselves as progressive if they are exclusive. The report concludes with a model for inclusive sustainable communities. See abstract below. 

There is a similar article, Making space for disability in eco-homes and eco-communities. The eco-home movement in the UK is underpinned by collaborative and communal housing and living. The aim of the movement is to minimise environmental impact and to be socially progressive. 

From the abstract

We use three eco-communities in England to explore how their eco-houses and wider community spaces accommodate the complex disability of hypotonic Cerebral Palsy.

We used site visits, video footage spatial mapping, observations, survey and interviews that show little attention has be paid to making eco-houses accessible. There are four ways to interrogate accessibility in eco-communities: understanding legislation, thresholds, dexterity and mobility.

Three factors emerged: ecological living is not designed for disabled people; disabled access was only considered in relation to the house and its thresholds and not to the much broader space of the home; and eco-communities need to be spaces of diverse interaction.

 

Universal Design, Health and Ageing: A checklist

Four older men wearing hats sit at a square table in the park.The most well-known guide for ageing populations is the World Health Organization’s Age Friendly Cities and Communities. This, and similar guides, focus on “active ageing” or “positive ageing”. They aim to counter the “burden” view of older people which tends to focus on ill-health. But good health and design are closely linked. The Center for Health Design has joined the dots on universal design, health and ageing and created a checklist.  

The Center for Health Design‘s checklist focuses on design features specific to older people. This checklist differs from others as it includes the health care aspect and takes a universal design approach. The checklist is not a list of comprehensive specifications, but a “thought starter”. It is best used to guide the discussion of design teams at the outset of a project. The checklist covers Home and Community including residential, Healthcare and design of clinics and emergency rooms, and Workplace designs and strategies.

The checklist matrix lists the strategy or goal, design considerations for the built environment, and the universal implications. It includes ageing in place, active living, hospital at home, hospital design, and promoting healthy lifestyles. 

The checklist has a comprehensive reference list to support the content. An extract from the checklist is below. 

The header of the checklist matrix showing the Strategy, Design element and universal implications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ageing is more than a health issue

A view of George Street Sydney showing pedestrians walking across the mall created by the light rail system. Ageing is not just a health issue.
Picture by Ashleigh Hughes

Guidelines, toolkits and policy frameworks related to population ageing have been around for a while. But are they being used? Ageing is more than a health issue – it’s an urban planning issue as well. COVID-19 has made this very apparent. And so has the 2023 Intergenerational Report. A case study based on Greater Sydney highlights the issues. 

The authors discuss an “ageing city” in the first part of the article where they focus on Australian data on ageing and dementia. The second part of the article provides more information on what is working well and what needs to change. The article uses data, state and city policies to assess how well Greater Sydney is doing as a city for older people. 

Key themes

Sydney has many blue and green spaces that are great for mental and physical health. However, these are inequitably distributed across eastern and western parts of the city. Access to shops and services likewise. 

Active and social places are for the most part good for everyone. Quiet places are important too especially for people with dementia. Feeling safe is related to how active an older person is in their community. The more they get out and about the less worried they are about crime. 

The researchers report on interviews with health and planning professionals, and provide several first hand quotes. 

Key themes from the interviews included: the need for intergenerational spaces, considering mobility and distance between key services, and better access to gardens. Familiar landscapes and architectural landmarks provide a sense of security along with quiet ‘slow spaces’. Ageing and dementia could get lost when nested under policy words such as “liveability” and “universal design”.

Many things are possible and easy to do if planning and health professionals work together. That seems to be the way to go. 

The last part of the article discusses the many toolkits, guidelines and policy frameworks for age-friendly cities. They range from international policies through to the work of the Greater Sydney Commission. The article concludes with recommendations.

The title of the article is, Age-friendly urban design and mental health in Sydney, Australia: a city case study. It is published in the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health Edition 7: Aging City. There are other articles on the same topic in this edition. 

Authors are, Safia Moore, Associate at Arup, and Georgia Vitale, Practice Leader at Grimshaw. 

 

 

Adaptable Housing Guide – 6th edition

Front cover of Your Home 6th edition. Your Home is in its 6th edition (2022) published by the Australian Government. It has a section on the livable and adaptable house. This guide is especially helpful for home renovations and modifications as well as new builds.

Accessible, universal design features for all housing are in the 2022 edition of the National Construction Code. These features are similar to the Livable Housing Design Guidelines Silver standard. However, Your Home Guide is yet to catch up with the recent changes to the National Construction Code’s Livable Housing Design Standard.

The old Adaptable Housing Standard (AS4299) continues to be referenced alongside the Livable Housing Design Guidelines. The Adaptable Standard has elements similar to the Gold standard in the Livable Housing guide. However, some elements and design ideas in AS4299 are outdated or costly in this 1995 standard. 

The web version is easy to navigate and covers every aspect of design including adaptation to climate change. It can also be purchased in hard copy. 

There are many detailed diagrams to help explain design features and floor plans. The chapter makes distinctions between liveable and adaptable designs. Drawings and floor plans provide sufficient information for designers, renovators and homeowners alike. 

From the introduction:

Many of the homes we build today will still be in use in 50 or even 100 years. Ensuring our homes are both liveable and adaptable is a key challenge for all communities.

Liveability means ensuring our homes are comfortable, healthy, efficient and connected to the community. But it also means the home is functional, safe, secure and attractive for current and future occupants.

Adaptability means that our homes can cope with changes to our households and to the climate. Making homes that are flexible, adaptable, and resilient helps us to respond to both predicted and unexpected change. It also means that we limit our environmental footprint to ensure that our communities remain sustainable.

CUDA’s Livable Housing Design Course

Front cover of the Livable Housing Design Standard showing a single storey home with garage.Get up to speed with this online course which is provided on licence from the Australian Building Codes Board and endorsed by the Building Designers Association of Australia.  It covers everything from different ways to achieve a level entry, bathrooms and toilets, to doors and corridors. 

Inclusive mobility systems: A framework

Disney monorail travelling on a raised rail over water.Transportation systems are more than buses and bus stops, or trains and stations. They consist of infrastructure, customer service, regulations, and system organisation. Taking a universal design approach is a good way to frame and achieve inclusive mobility systems.

The chart below shows the conceptual framework for inclusive mobility. It was used as the basis for a research project. 

Graphic showing conceptual framework with three key elements: Universal design, mobility and accessibility requirements and competences and responsibilities of involved actors.

The 7 Principles of Universal Design are translated into mobility and transportation language. Different sectors have responsibility for these components: government, private, academia, and advocacy groups. The title of the article is, Composing a Conceptual Framework for an Inclusive Mobility System. The article goes into more detail of the various components of the system. The final table identifies eight inclusive components:

      1. Vehicle equipment
      2. Environment
      3. Trip management
      4. Assistance
      5. Operational organisation
      6. Regulations and standards
      7. Awareness raising
      8. Funding

It is good to see the practical application of the Principles of Universal Design in relation to inclusive mobility. This framework brings components together nicely. 

From the Abstract

This paper addresses the question how a future mobility system can be accessible to everyone regardless whether or not they have a disability. The purpose of a conceptional framework is to show how to design and organise an inclusive mobility system.

The research question is based on the seven Principles of Universal Design”, the “UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” as well as on the UN goals on sustainable development.  These theoretical principles on inclusion and inclusive design are transferred to the interdisciplinary concerns of spatial planning.

The identified accessibility and mobility requirements of individuals with disabilities are assigned to the roles and responsibilities of government, the private sector, academia and civil society and advocacy groups.

This approach identifies innovative solutions that constitute an inclusive mobility system by considering technology and non-technological driven aspects. Eight inclusive components (called i components) for the future design and organisation of an inclusive mobility system are formulated: i-Car, i-Environment, i-Ride, i-Assist, i-Organize, i-Code, i-Image and i-Funding.

 

Handbook for accessible graphic design

Front cover of the handbook for accessible graphic design. Bright yellow with black text.Graphic design covers all kinds of creative design and visual communications. The accessibility of graphic design should always be considered in the production of websites, brochures or Word documents. Fortunately there is a great handbook for accessible graphic design to help.

Graphic design covers creative design, visual communications, applied design and technology sectors. The text covers typography, digital media, web accessibility, Office documents, accessible PDFs, print design, environmental graphic design, colour selection and more. It’s relatively easy to read and has a logical structure. At the end is a list of publications, links to websites and tools to help. 

There are so many little things that graphic designers can do to make their creations more accessible. The guide shows how to make graphic creations accessible with little, if any, extra effort. The title of the guide is, AccessAbility 2: A Practical Handbook on Accessible Graphic Design, and comes from Ontario, Canada. this is a revised 2nd edition. 

Beginning with some questions… 

How do we plan a graphic design project to ensure it is as accessible as possible for the intended audience? What considerations do we need to make for accessibility across various media? And how does our desire to communicate effectively with people of varying abilities translate into specific design decisions?

This book is for a broad group of individuals, including professional graphic designers, clients, educators, students and many others.