Jane Bringolf, Author at - Page 87 of 100

What does inclusion actually mean?

Kat Holmes found the origin of include was to “shut in”. Similarly, the origin of exclude was to “shut out”. Maybe “inclusion” is not the right word for describing the inclusion of everyone in products, places and things. So what does inclusion actually mean?

Holmes explains in the video below, that the topic of diversity is discussed as gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnicity, and race. Disability is usually mentioned last in the list, if at all. “But it is the one category that transcends all other categories”, she says. “Abilities are constantly changing”.

Holmes’ offers an alternative way for designers to consider diversity, and is based on her book, Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design. An engaging talk for all upcoming designers in any field. And not just professional designers either. We all design things every day, so we all have a role to play.

Editor’s Note: I discussed this issue in a 2009 paper. Inclusion requires those who are already included to invite into the group those who are excluded. Semantics are important. What we need is inclusiveness – that’s where inclusion has already happened and there are no exclusions. Inclusion is a futuristic concept – it’s something we are striving for. It it were achieved, no further discussion would be needed.

Quotable quotes on universal design

There are many definitions and explanations of universal design. But sometimes the way people talk about it expresses it better. Here are some quotable quotes on universal design.

This banner was hanging at the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA) located at the University at Buffalo in 2004. The text reads,

“The essence of universal design lies in its ability to create beauty and mediate extremes without destroying differences in places, experiences, and things”. Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick, Designers.

Wall banner saying The essence of universal design lies in its ability to create beauty and mediate extremes without destroying differences in places, experiences and things

Accessibility vs universal design

Ed Steinfeld explains the difference between accessibility and universal design is, “The space of accessibility and universal design”, in the book, Rethinking Disability and Human Rights:

“Accessibility is a compensatory strategy conceived to prevent discrimination while universal design seeks to change the consciousness of those who create the built environment to address a broader conception of the human body.”

The website of Design and Architecture Norway (DOGA) explains:

“In simple terms, design thinking is about recognizing the designer’s methods for connecting the user’s needs with what is technologically possible and which provides a real market value.

Apple is well-known for making their products really easy to use. Here is a quote from Steve Jobs, former CEO, Apple.

“Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.”

The universal design conference held in Dublin 2018 began with the words, “Good Design Enables. Bad Design Disables“. The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design has a good, but wordy description of universal design.

Slide at a conference with the words, good design enable. Bad design disables.

Diversity

The text in the sign by Arthur Chan says:

Diversity is a fact.
Equity is a choice.
Inclusion is an action.
Belonging is an outcome.

They are all are part of a universal design approach.

The signboard says, Diversity is a fact, Equity is a choice, Inclusion is an action Belonging is an outcome.

The late Judith Heumann has quoted this many times. She also said it is easier to change the design of the environment that to change attitudes. Her TEDx talk is worth a look.

“There are only two kinds of people in the world: people with disability and people yet to have a disability.”

Quote from Christina Mallon, Microsoft’s head of inclusive design: The end goal? “It’s that inclusive design becomes the only way to design, so that my job as an inclusive designer is just a designer. I want my job to go away.” From FastCompany article.

Overheard at a workshop: “So if you design for the extremes you include the middle”

Classroom design from a student perspective

What is the optimal classroom environment for students? Why not ask them? Designing Classrooms for Learning reports on a project that included student opinions about classroom design for learning about science. The project included a survey where students compared their “ideal” design with current design.

The study concludes that lighting, desk layout, places to put belongings and the layout of materials in the classroom all have an effect on student learning. “Student morale and learning can be affected greatly by the physical structure of the classroom, and that the involvement of students in the environment creating process can increase their motivation as well as empower them and develop a sense of community”.

According to the findings, something as simple as desk layout can make a big difference. Most teachers of adults have known this for some time. They take the time to rearrange rows of previously aligned tables and chairs into circular layout or into small group layout.

Given that every student learns differently, instructors need to provide multiple avenues for learning. This links with the theory of humans having different intelligences. You can read more on education, learning and universal design for learning, on this website.

Economic arguments for universal design in housing

The 2022 National Construction Code has at last included the Livable Housing Design Standard. Citizen advocacy and political will made this happen. But there were strong economic arguments. Research papers have produced solid economic arguments for universal design in housing over many years. However, these arguments failed in their quest. So the issues are beyond those of economics. For those who want the research, here is a list of papers, including the cost effectiveness of home modifications (or not needing them in the first place).

Selected articles on economic arguments

The cost of NOT including accessibility in new homes This landmark article by Smith, Rayer and Smith (2008) uses complex economic methodologies to show that a new home built today has a 60% likelihood of having an occupant with a permanent disability. People with disability live in families – not alone – which is often forgotten. They followed up this work in 2011 with similar results.

Universal design in housing: is cost the real issue? The Dalton-Carter economic evaluation disputes the Australian Building Codes Boards economic study.

A cost benefit analysis of adaptable homes by urban economist Martin Hill of Hill PDA. This 1999 conference paper shows how long these arguments have been running. The context is adaptable housing – the forerunner of universal design concepts in housing.

Home adaptations: Costs? or Savings? A survey of local authorities and Home Improvement Agencies: Identifying the hidden cost of providing a home adaptations service.

Accessible housing: costs and gains This article evaluates the costs and gains of modifying homes

Using Building Information Modeling with Universal Design Strategies. This article develops a technical framework to evaluate the costs and benefits of building projects.

Universal design in housing from a planning perspective. A comprehensive look at the housing landscape, an ageing population, and the need for universal design in housing.

Universal design in housing – does it really have to cost more? In a down to earth fashion Kay Saville-Smith discusses the “size fraud”

Barriers to Universal Design in Australian Housing is a short paper based on a thesis. It gives an indication of why economic arguments alone are insufficient to bring about change.

Can tourism improve walkability?

If local and state governments aren’t listening to residents about mobility, walkability, and wheelability then perhaps they might consider visitors and tourists with money to spend locally. But are they really interested in the extra tourist dollars? Does the local Chamber of Commerce think it’s all too difficult to create greater access and inclusion? The walkability issue isn’t just about footpaths, seating and toilets – it’s about all the links in the chain to make it happen – joined up thinking. Otherwise we end up with islands of access and inclusion. And you can’t be a bit inclusive – it either is or it isn’t. That means business, community and governments need to work in unison on the design of physical environments, customer service and tourist information. And of course the reverse of the question is, “Can walkability improve tourism?”

Accessibility and Equitable Tourism Services for Travelers with Disabilities: From an Charitable to a Commercial Footing, takes a corporate and social responsibility perspective on some of these issues. You will need institutional access for a free read – published in Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility in Tourism, where there is further reading.

A research paper from Turkey, Assessment of factors influencing walkability in shopping streets of tourism cities is also worth a read. They found that “Urban planning and design should focus on how to connect people and places together, by creating cities that focus on connectivity, accessibility, crime security, traffic safety, and comfort
and use’.

You can find some inclusive tourism guides, magazine articles and research papers in the tourism section on this website.

A less lonely planet with inclusive tourism

International travel is a great experience for everyone especially when operators get on board with inclusive thinking. In his latest article, Martin Heng goes beyond the rights arguments to explain the economics of inclusive travel. With a growing market of older travellers tourism and travel businesses need to step up to take advantage. Heng also picks up the issue of terminology: “accessible” makes people think of compliance for wheelchair users. But he rightly points out that wheelchair users are a small proportion of the population that has some kind of disability or chronic health condition. That’s why we should be calling it “inclusive travel”.

Heng goes on to list the easy, cost effective things that businesses can do. And not just thinking about the building. Easy to read fonts on menus and other information materials, TVs with captioning options, and websites that provide relevant visitor information about rooms, attractions and services. The article has several pictures showing Martin in various overseas locations. The title is What is accessible travel, and why should we be talking about it? Martin Heng works for Lonely Planet as their Accessible Travel Manager.

Image courtesy Martin Heng from his article.

Universal Design Improves Access Compliance

What can you do to improve compliance with disability access standards when heritage and disrepair are commonplace? And when they are misunderstood, seen as too hard to implement, and where buildings are in a serious state of disrepair. This was the challenge set by Australia’s overseas aid program in Sri Lanka. The aim of this project was to find a way to educate built environment professionals in Sri Lanka about complying with disability access regulations.

Rather than take a text book approach to explaining the standards, the training group took a universal design approach. That meant focusing on the reasons why certain designs were needed, not just the need to apply the standard.

In her paper on this project, Penny Galbraith details the particular issues Sri Lanka faces. The complexities were major heritage sites, assets in disrepair, obsolete infrastructure, and transport designs from previous centuries. “Universal design was the ideal starting point, not least because of its emphasis on users, but also that it allows for acknowledging and embracing cultural factors which is very important given ethnic tension in Sri Lanka”.

An interesting application of the principles of universal design. It shows that reducing barriers in the built environment is reliant on understanding why, not just how to comply. The title of the paper is, A Practitioner’s Universal Design Approach Making a Difference to Distressed Assets in Sri Lanka.

From the the UDHEIT 2018 conference held in Dublin, Ireland.

Housing, older people and resilience

People want to stay put as they age. That means housing design is critical in supporting this desire, as well as ageing-in-place policies. A new study from New Zealand looked at issues of appropriate housing for older people, and how people and communities can develop resilience to adverse natural events. The findings relate to ageing societies across the globe and within the context of changing environmental conditions. The decision tools that researchers devised from this participatory research are useful for older people and for architects and other designers.

The title of the article by Bev James and Kay Saville-Smith is “Designing housing decision-support tools for resilient older people“. There are several useful references at the end of this excellent study.

ABSTRACT: Our ageing populations make it critical that older people continue to live and participate in their communities. ‘Ageing in place’, rather than in residential care, is desired by older people themselves and promoted as policy in many countries. Its success, both as policy and practice, depends on housing. House performance, resilience, functionality and adaptability are all essential to maintaining independence. Three New Zealand research programmes have worked with older people to investigate issues around housing, ‘ageing in place’ and how older people and communities can become resilient to adverse natural events. Using participatory research techniques, those programmes have generated evidence-based decision-support tools to help older people maintain independence. These tools have been co-designed and widely tested with older people and others. Designed to help older people identify priorities and information requirements, assess diverse factors determining thermal performance and dwelling resilience as well as repairs and maintenance needs, the tools help improve decisions around: repairs and maintenance assessment and solutions; dwelling and location choices and housing options. Various organizations have adopted the tools. This work demonstrates how research outputs can be used to facilitate older people’s housing choices while also giving architects and designers guides for meeting older people’s housing needs.

Image by David Mark.

Design tool for dementia-friendly public buildings

The online tool for Dementia Enabling Environments has a section on dementia friendly public buildings. It’s an interactive design tool. So clicking on a room in the floor plan brings up a 3D view of the room. Hovering the mouse over question marks in the room brings up more detailed information about design ideas that are good for people with dementia. Of course, these designs are usable for almost anyone else who is ambulatory, including people with other cognitive conditions.

This is an excellent resource that takes accessibility beyond the access codes which don’t cover this level of design. The Dementia Enabling Environments tool also covers homes, care settings, and gardens and nature. There are links to other resources as well.

Cognition and inclusive design

Practitioners and researchers are seeking more solutions for people with sensory and cognitive impairments, particularly dementia. But our building standards are silent on this growing issue. Time to think about cognition from an inclusive design perspective.

The value of designing an age-friendly environment is discussed in an article by Hadjri, Afacan, and Gadakari. As with all universal design features, the authors argue inclusion needs to be embedded in the early stages of design. See the abstract below for more on the content.

It is good to see the topic nestling between chapters on passive design and energy efficiency. The chapter “Inclusive Design” unexpectedly appears in ZEMCH: Toward the Delivery of Zero Energy Mass Custom Homes, and is available from SpringerLink and ResearchGate.

You will need institutional access for a free read, otherwise purchase the chapter. You can also try ResearchGate to ask for a free read.

From the abstract

This chapter will explain and discuss the principles, role and importance of Inclusive Design particularly in the context of an ageing society. It will review the changing and complex user needs and requirements through case studies and current work of leading organizations.

Current standards do not take account of cognitive needs and more needs to be done by policy makers. Findings of recent research on users’ needs and requirements will be reviewed and Inclusive Design will be examined to assess the use of technology in embedding accessibility during the design stage.

Remembering to be dementia-friendly

Here are some good resources for considering people with dementia in designs. The topic of dementia can also include people with acquired brain injury and other cognitive conditions at any age. They’ve been collected from this website for ready reference. Too many good publications are soon forgotten after their launch.

Dementia Friendly Assessment Tool – a community assessment tool.

Dementia Friendly Home Design – this one from Centre for Excellence in Universal Design in Ireland – very well researched.

Age and Dementia Streetscapes Toolkit – based on participatory action research.

Dementia friendly hospitals from a universal design approach – another from Centre for Excellence in Universal Design in Ireland.

On being outdoors: How people with dementia experience and deal with vulnerabilities – a participatory research method using ‘go-along-walking’.

Designing Homes with Dementia in Mind – research from Aalborg University.

Author: Jane Bringolf

What does inclusion actually mean?

Like this: