Colour is important for giving visual cues about the position of objects and helps us navigate around obstacles. But as we grow older this ability tends to decrease along with vision loss. Colour coding is one strategy to gain or direct attention and increase independent movement. A study on using colour for safe movement in the home found that bright, clear or strong colour helps older eyes distinguish things. It is also good for people of any age who have low vision. Luminance contrast was also likely to be just as important, if not more so. The report of the study is a second edition and is titled, Use of Colour for Safe Movement. The aim of the study was to see how colour and colour contrast helps older people stay safe and comfortable at home. Bright colours and high contrast improves spatial orientation, recognition of objects, and improves mood. The study has particular use for people involved in home modifications.Related to this research is an Industry Checklist: Colours for the homes of people with ageing eyes or vision impairment. This is useful for doing a home assessment and customising for individual needs and preferences. There is also a consumer factsheet, How can colours support movement of people with ageing eyes or impaired sight? This has self-help tips such as marking objects with a bright colour such as buttons on a remote control. While this study was about home environments, there is much to take away for the public domain.
Getting away from it all is something we all need for our health and wellbeing. But not everyone has the means of doing this. Being excluded as a tourist goes beyond physical and other levels of capability. It extends to people without the money to have a holiday. But it goes further than that. In developed countries the concept is applied to people looking for low cost tourism. In developing countries the focus is on the visited community rather than the visitor. This is “social tourism”.
The concept of social tourism has changed over time. It can help both the visitor and the visited community under the banner of Tourism for All. Socially sustainable tourism, community-based tourism and volunteering tourism have also fallen under the banner of social tourism. Consequently, in the literature, it is not clearly expressed as tourism for people who are disadvantaged.
This study attempts to describe three aspects of social tourism: (a) how it is perceived in different socio-cultural and geographical settings; (b) what are the excluded elements of social tourism; and (c) change in demography of potential socially excluded groups. The study also explains the trends of special forms of tourism and its relevance to social tourism inclusion.
See also the book, Handbook of Social Tourism. The synopsis reads, “This thought-provoking Handbook considers the impact and challenges that social tourism has on people’s lives, integrating case studies from around the world. Showcasing the latest research on the topic and its role in tackling the challenges of tourism development, chapters explore the opportunities presented by social tourism and illustrate the social imperative of tourism as a force for good”.
COVID-19 prevented UD2020 conference from going ahead in May this year, but not before some of the speakers had finished writing their papers. As we had to postpone yet again to May 2021, it seemed too long to wait. So CUDA’s People and Transport webinar last week provided the perfect opportunity launch the papers.
With the support of Griffith University we can now bring you eleven peer reviewed papers and extended abstracts. As you can see, they cover a wide range of topics. We look forward to hearing from the authors at the conference next year.
Australia is lagging behind the rest of the world with electric and automated vehicles, but this isn’t stopping development. Until now, automated vehicle design has focused around a version of the average driver. Automation will change all that.
The introduction of autonomous vehicles will happen in five stages. The first stage is basic automation such as breaking, parking and controlling speed. The final stage is where there are no controls as we know them. No steering wheel, brake lever or pedals. Stages 2-4 have intermediate degrees of automation until stage 5 is reached. One of the major barriers to implementation is integrating with existing infrastructure. This means some form of onboard human control, for now at, at least.
The paper discusses people with disability or difficulties, older adults, and children. Vehicles designed to “themes” would cater for individual needs. An office theme, an entertainment theme, or an adaptable theme to suit specific disabilities. In this case, it could be by offering all information in the most suitable mode, or adapting ergonomics to suit easy operation. ABC News also has a 2017 article discussing some of the issues.
Ridesharing
A related 2021 article discusses the role of autonomous vehicle ridesharing for non-drivers. Using a participatory approach, the research group checked out the needs of people with disability. They ended up with a list of of user needs that will go into prototypes. It’s not just about the vehicle – it’s about the system for booking and ridesharing. That included web design, vehicle design and how people interact with all of that.
The 2021 Australian Driverless Vehicle Summit went virtual. It was an opportunity to update around 250 delegates on what Australia is doing. The Summit featured examples of autonomous trucks in mining sites, and in defence and freight industries. Clearly there is a lot going on in the background in this field.
To find out what Transport for NSW is doing on this topic – go to their dedicated website page on connected and automated vehicles.
Artificial Intelligence will be key. But it needs to be more intelligent than some of the typed autocorrections we see today.
Can you see me?
Worried that a driverless car won’t see or detect you? With a driver you can check to see if they are looking your way, but if there is no driver, that can be a worry. Autonomous vehicles are posing many problems for designers who are grappling with most of them quite successfully.
So for this problem Jaguar has come up with a car with googly eyes. The “eyes” don’t “see” you. However, they can give confidence that you have been detected because the eyes follow you as you cross the pedestrian crossing.
At the 2018 UD Conference Amy Child from Arupgave an entertaining presentation on this topic and other aspects of the move to driverless cars, including the googly eyes. The transcript of Amy’s keynote presentation can be downloaded in Word.
The field of dementia and the design of the built environment is not well understood. Until now. Comprehensive Australian research has resulted in two volumes on the topic. The research looks at current best practice in design, and regional and cultural aspects. It also covers the importance of including people with dementia in the design process. The impact of the pandemic is another discussion point. People with dementia have the same human rights as others and that includes being treated with dignity.
The first volume is about the approach to the topic, the thorny issues, design processes and the 10 principles they developed. The second volume presents 84 case studies from around the world. A collection of day care centres, residential care facilities, and public buildings illustrate good design principles. The case studies include architectural detail and photos illustrate some of the design points.
The report launch webinar gives a good overview. Unfortunately the captions are auto-generated so they aren’t the best. However you can increase the speed and still understand the content.
Principles of dementia
Unobtrusively reducing risks: Minimise risk factors such as steps and ensure safety features are as unobtrusive as possible.
Providing a human scale: The scale of buildings can impact the behaviour of people with dementia, so provide a human scale to minimise intimidating features.
Allowing people to see and be seen: The provision of an easily understood environment will help to minimise confusion. A literal line of sight should be clear for both residents, and staff.
Reducing unhelpful stimulation: Environments should be designed to minimise exposure to stimuli that are unhelpful, such as unnecessary or competing noises and the sight of unnecessary signs, posters, spaces and clutter.
Optimise helpful stimulation: Enabling the person living with dementia to see, hear and smell things that give them cues about where they are and what they can do, can help minimise their confusion and uncertainty.
Support movement and engagement: Providing a well-defined pathway of movement, free of obstacles, can support engagement with people and opportunities.
Create a familiar place: The use of familiar building design, furniture, fittings and colours affords people with dementia an opportunity to maintain their competence.
Provide opportunities to be alone or with others: A variety of spaces, some for quiet conversation and some for larger groups, as well as spaces where people can be by themselves, gives people with dementia a choice to how they spend their time.
Link to the community: The more an environment enables visitors to drop in easily and enjoy being in places that encourage interaction, the more the sense of identity that comes from spending time with loved ones and others is reinforced.
Design in response to vision for way of life: The way of life offered needs to be clearly stated and the building designed both to support it and to make it evident to the residents and staff.
China, Singapore and Japan have a policy framework that supports older people to remain within the community. Many Western countries have favoured the age-segregated community model. Regardless, both need to take a holistic view of the lives of older people to maintain quality of life. The design of urban public space is key to this approach. Social participation is part of staying healthy and active in older age. A study using an active ageing framework draws together physical, social and mental health into a strategy for urban design. The author argues that adding accessible, barrier-free to existing spaces is insufficient to encourage participation. Creating age-friendly spaces that are not joined up also needs to be addressed. Ageing is much more than providing health care or islands of specialised design for older people. The answer is public space that has mixed functions and integrates all generations. That is, universal design.One of the strategies is taken from an example in Japan where a day care centre is adjacent a kindergarten. The space between is designed to encourage interaction. While this is not a new idea, it is yet to be realised more widely in new developments and urban renewal projects.The world’s population is getting older. More people are living 30 or more years in older age, and many are maintaining health for longer. Urban design has a role to play in supporting our longevity in all aspects of health and wellbeing. It is also about dignity and independence. The title of the paper is, The Research on the Optimum Design Strategies of the Public Space Against the Background of Active Aging. Editor’s note on terminology: “Older people” is the preferred terminology in Western cultures, not “the elderly” as if they are an homogeneous group. ABSTRACT: The urban public space is an important part of the daily living space of the elderly. The paper explores the practical significance of the urban public space in meeting the psychological needs of the elderly and their will to participate in the society. The urban elderly space based on the concept of active aging, is conducive to the spiritual consolation and satisfaction of the elderly in the space with multigenerational integration, multi-functional combination and guidance and helps guide the elderly to realize their self-worth through learning and creating and participating in the society more comprehensively. Based on the theory of active aging, the paper analyzes the differences of the functions of the urban public space for the elderly in China and in view of the limitations of the design of urban public space for the elderly in China. With typical cases in China and abroad, it proposes the ideas and directions of optimum designs of urban public space for the elderly and summarizes the design strategies of the active responses to aging of the urban public space for the elderly.
If you haven’t seen it in action, screen reader technology is not what you might expect. Experienced users listen at a speed most of us couldn’t contemplate. But screen readers are only as good as what they are given to read – it is a machine after all. The way web content is written, described and placed makes a difference to the efficiency of the reading device and the user.
Axess Lab has a four minute video of a how a screen reader works. If you haven’t seen this before it makes for fascinating viewing. In the video Marc Sutton explains some of the basics. The Axess Lab website also has advice for the more tech side of things as well for desktops and mobile readers.
Web designers might do all the right things in designing the site pages, but sometimes it is the document uploads where things fall apart for screen readers. For example, when you insert a table into a document, have you ever thought about how a screen reader might decipher this? Marc Sutton shows what happens and how to make it more accessible.
Vision Australia has a YouTube clip with a Jaws user explaining how it works for her. Nomesa blog site has additional information.
Screen readers work with the computer’s operating system and common applications. It relays information either by speech or Braille. The majority of users control things with the keyboard, not the mouse. If web pages are well structured, screen readers can interact easily. There are good reasons why websites should suit screen readers.
Accessible forms, video and chatbots
As the digital age moves ahead we need to make sure we aren’t creating a digital divide between those who are up to date and those who aren’t or can’t be. The canaxess website has three on-line and downloadable fact sheets that provide some of the simplest but effective advice.
For example, in Principles of accessible video – don’t set to the video to scroll on opening. In Principles of accessible forms – don’t use an asterisk to indicate a mandatory field – screen readers announce “star”. In Principles of accessible bots – placing in lower right of the screen is difficult for keyboard users. For people who upload information or documents to their website, there are some good tips.For others who know about coding there is really helpful information.
Consumers buy things that they want and need now rather than purchasing things with the future in mind. Well, that makes sense. For everyday items this poses no problems. But for expensive, longer lasting items, such as a home, it can be a problem. Many older Australians live in a home that was purchased in mid life. It was suitable then. But now that cherished home is challenging their independence in older age. That’s why all homes should have universal design features.A new report based on a survey of care-givers, both paid and unpaid, provides insights into their experiences and observations on the impact of home design on their caring role. The researchers found that housing design features and proximity to amenities had a value that extended beyond those of residents. That is, it facilitates community capacity and social engagement, physical wellbeing and ease of providing care services. The executive summary concludes with a statement that supports universal design in housing for people to age well:
“The public value implicit in universally designed housing is conceptually demonstrated by associated increases in ageing well outcomes and reduction in the need for, the level of, and the time spent on, care to support positive ageing outcomes (ie. generating efficiency gains in achieving ageing well outcomes).
The key findings of the study
Universal design features impact on the level of care needed to support ageing well.
The location of the home and access to amenities also has an impact on the level of care needed.
The time needed to support people with basic living activities is reduced.
We explore the public value implicit in housing incorporating universal design principles. Value is conceptually demonstrated by identifying housing design and location attributes, associated with increases in ageing well outcomes via the reduction in the time spent on caring duties.A survey captured the experiential knowledge of in-home care service providers and their observations of the impact of the home on the ageing well outcomes. We found that certain housing design and location features have value that extends beyond that experienced solely by its residents. It also facilitates community capacity and social engagement, physical wellbeing and ease of delivery of public services such as care support.
Designing and creating electronic devices for older people so they can stay home in their later years is a good thing. But are they actually what older people want? It’s a balancing act between assistance for independence versus privacy intrusions. Where do you draw the line? And will the older person have a say in where that line is drawn? These are tricky questions and the answers are likely to be individual. And what happens to any data that are collected both deliberately and as a by-product?
A conference paper from Germany discusses some of these issues as we are increasingly looking to technology to solve our problems. The issues raised in could benefit from a universal design perspective. Taking this view, one would ask, “How can we make ambient technology more universal and general and less specialised so that people don’t feel stigmatised? As Eva-Maria Schomakers and Martina Ziefle say, privacy concerns include the feeling of constant surveillance, misuse of personal information by third parties, as well as the invasion of personal space, obtrusiveness and stigmatising design of these technologies.
Ambient Assisted Living is a growing field of research. A related paper on ResearchGate “Enabling Technologies for the Internet of Health Things”, might be a place to start. It contains some useful diagrams.
Technology has advanced to a point where almost anyone can set up a website – no coding experience needed! It’s easy to get carried away with glitz, glamour, flashing signs and a swinging carousel of images. This is where user experience, or UX, comes into play. And let’s not forget web accessibility. Many of us have something to do with a website. So whether we contribute to one, manage one, or are commissioning one, there are some basics to know.First some statistics. Seventeen per cent of users will not return after just one bad experience. Forty-eight per cent of users are annoyed by sites that aren’t mobile friendly. The DreamHost blog has two articles, one explaining how UX works, and the other is about web accessibility. It’s a pity they weren’t joined up into one article. Accessibility is not an optional add-on. It should be considered from the outset of the initial design and be a continuous process for ongoing content. While the UX articlefocuses on “target audience” and forgets this audience might need accessibility features, it has some useful advice. No need to get too bogged down with detail here. It covers navigation, content, animation, and responsiveness.The article, 10 ways to make your website accessible is a good start for anyone new to the concept. It covers many of the basics such as colour choice, adding descriptions to images, and text size. Avoid tables for presenting data because screen readers can’t read them unless they are coded correctly. An accessible site expands the potential audience and helps with search engine rankings.See also Web accessibility techniques: A guide and the section on ICT guidelines on this website for more information. Editor’s note: We do our best with accessibility and rely on in-built coding with the free software we use to keep the site running. We receive no funding to run this service. However, we welcome feedback if you find specific difficulties with this website.
Colour is important for giving visual cues about the position of objects and helps us navigate around obstacles. But as we grow older this ability tends to decrease along with vision loss. Colour coding is one strategy to gain or direct attention and increase independent movement.
A study on using colour for safe movement in the home found that bright, clear or strong colour helps older eyes distinguish things. It is also good for people of any age who have low vision. Luminance contrast was also likely to be just as important, if not more so.
The report of the study is a second edition and is titled, Use of Colour for Safe Movement. The aim of the study was to see how colour and colour contrast helps older people stay safe and comfortable at home. Bright colours and high contrast improves spatial orientation, recognition of objects, and improves mood. The study has particular use for people involved in home modifications.
Related to this research is an Industry Checklist: Colours for the homes of people with ageing eyes or vision impairment. This is useful for doing a home assessment and customising for individual needs and preferences.
There is also a consumer factsheet, How can colours support movement of people with ageing eyes or impaired sight? This has self-help tips such as marking objects with a bright colour such as buttons on a remote control.
While this study was about home environments, there is much to take away for the public domain.
COVID-19 prevented 
The papers were launched at the webinar by Dr Faith Valencia-Forrester
Worried that a driverless car won’t see or detect you? With a driver you can check to see if they are looking your way, but if there is no driver, that can be a worry. Autonomous vehicles are posing many problems for designers who are grappling with most of them quite successfully. 
The field of dementia and the design of the built environment is not well understood. Until now. 
China, Singapore and Japan have a policy framework that supports older people to remain within the community. Many Western countries have favoured the age-segregated community model. Regardless, both need to take a holistic view of the lives of older people to maintain quality of life. The design of urban public space is key to this approach. 
If you haven’t seen it in action, screen reader technology is not what you might expect. Experienced users listen at a speed most of us couldn’t contemplate. But screen readers are only as good as what they are given to read – it is a machine after all. The way web content is written, described and placed makes a difference to the efficiency of the reading device and the user.
Consumers buy things that they want and need now rather than purchasing things with the future in mind. Well, that makes sense. For everyday items this poses no problems. But for expensive, longer lasting items, such as a home, it can be a problem. Many older Australians live in a home that was purchased in mid life. It was suitable then. But now that cherished home is challenging their independence in older age. That’s why all homes 
Designing and creating electronic devices for older people so they can stay home in their later years is a good thing. But are they actually what older people want? It’s a balancing act between assistance for independence versus privacy intrusions. Where do you draw the line? And will the older person have a say in where that line is drawn? These are tricky questions and the answers are likely to be individual. And what happens to any data that are collected both deliberately and as a by-product? 
Technology has advanced to a point where almost anyone can set up a website – no coding experience needed! It’s easy to get carried away with glitz, glamour, flashing signs and a swinging carousel of images. This is where user experience, or UX, comes into play. And