Author: Jane Bringolf

Work, transport and wheelchair users

Picture showing the level access from the platform into the train. Work, transport and wheelchair users.How many jobs can a wheelchair user reach using public transport? Combining wheelchair accessibility with potential jobs is a useful way to show how access is good for individuals and the economy. That’s because we can add anyone with difficulty walking, and also people taking their children to childcare near their workplace. 

Montreal and Toronto are retrofitting their networks to ensure that all individuals can use the public transport system. But will it be enough? A group of transport researchers created a method to identify the public transport barriers that prevent wheelchair users from getting to jobs.

Once the method was devised, they applied it to Montreal and Toronto. They calculated calculate the number of jobs that can be reached within 45 minutes of travel by public transport by a wheelchair user compared to the number of jobs a non wheelchair user can access.

In Toronto, wheelchair users have access to 75% of jobs compared to non wheelchair users. In Montreal this figure drops to 46%. The main reason for the difference is that Montreal has less accessible subway stations than Toronto.

The title of the article is, Comparing accessibility to jobs by public transport for individuals with and without a physical disability. The article covers the development of the methodology, the results and analysis. It is worth noting that if wheelchair users can get out and about easily, others with mobility issues will also be served. So it is not just about a niche group particularly as our population ages.

Abstract

Equal access to opportunities has emerged in public transport planning as a social objective that many transport agencies are trying to achieve. Yet in practice, not all public transport agencies are currently providing urban residents with comparable levels of service due to physical barriers in the public transport network that can significantly hinder the ability of individuals with physical disabilities to access opportunities.

In countries without a strong federal accessibility act and/or with major financial constraints, some public transport agencies fall behind in applying universal access design principles, making it even harder for people with a physical disability to access opportunities.

The objective of this study is to develop a methodology that can be used by
public transport agencies or disability advocates to clearly highlight and quantify the performance of the public transport network in a region, in terms of providing transit services to people in a wheelchair and compare that to the service offered to an individual not in a wheelchair.

In this study we use accessibility, the ease of reaching destinations, by public transport as the key performance measure in two major Canadian Cities (Montreal and Toronto). Furthermore, we focus on job accessibility in the most socially vulnerable census tracts in both cities, to evaluate levels of job accessibility for wheelchair users residing in socially vulnerable areas.

The findings from our study show striking contrasts between the numbers of accessible jobs by public transport for wheelchair users compared to the general population. On average, wheelchair users in Toronto have access to 75% of jobs that are accessible to users that are not in a wheelchair, whilst their counterparts in Montreal have access to only 46% of the jobs accessible to other users.

This research is expected to highlight for public transport engineers, planners, policy makers and advocates for those with disabilities, the importance of universal access in a region, especially along public transport networks, using a widely used land use and transport performance measure.

Teaching and learning UD in real time

Student's model of the housing site showing topography and buildingsCork County Council in Ireland has provided an excellent opportunity for second year architecture students to get some hands on practice and expand their design thinking. In Kevin Busby and Jim Harrison’s paper, Universal Design in Architectural Education – Community Liaison on ‘Live Projects‘, they report on imaginative examples of student responses to the challenges of integrating age-friendly features in housing. They also report on the learning gained from observing students and finding out the main design difficulties they found in the process. Illustrations demonstrate some of the ideas. Good to see students operating in the real world and making a difference.

The article is from the proceedings of the UDHEIT 2018 conference held in Dublin, Ireland, an open access publication.

Universal design and accessible meetings

picture of a large audience watching a presentation.Even conferences about inclusion, universal design and accessibility can fail to meet the first requirement of their own content – to make the conference and venue accessible and inclusive. So how will conference organisers learn about access and inclusion?  New research aims to promote awareness among meeting organisers and the conference supplier companies about the need to remove barriers to meetings and conventions. This includes the whole issue of destinations and visitor experience for the surrounding area. The report, Universal Accessibility in Meetings, was produced by BestCities Global Alliance, Gaining Edge, and RI International. 12 cities are featured in case studies, including Melbourne, and there is a 15 point checklist for meeting organisers. Final step will be to get presenters to universally design their PowerPoint presentations.  A quick review can be found on the Conference and Incentive Travel website.

Home Coming? Yes it’s possible

A graphic in shades of green showing various types of dwellings. Home Coming? Yes it's possible.This article from Penny Galbraith was written when the Australian Building Codes Board called for responses to their Options Paper on Accessible Housing. The title of Penny’s paper presented at the recent UD Conference in Ireland is, Home Coming? A Story of Reassurance, Opportunity and Hope for Universally Designed Housing in Australia.  Using facts and figures, she challenges the many false assumptions that the industry and others hold about the need for universal design in housing. She also covers assumptions about costs. So yes, it’s possible.

Paper Abstract

This paper shows the complexity of housing and how it is the linch-pin for achieving economic, social and human rights imperatives. In Australia there are no minimum housing standards; the effect is now critical. In October 2017, a regulatory impact assessment was instructed, to consider Livable Housing Australia’s Silver and Gold standards, for inclusion in the National Construction Code. A substantial research project provided a knowledge and evidence base of the policy perspective; an expanded statistical context; and detailed analyses of Silver, Gold and Platinum design levels.

The policy perspective included greater economic focus. The effect on productivity, directly attributable to housing, is significant. 34 specific policy ‘problems’ were identified that could be solved or mitigated if acceptable standards of housing were introduced. It is reassuring that universal design has permeated all levels of government policy. The statistical context explored demographics, households, dwelling types; tenure; occupants; disability and carers. Detailed analyses challenged many common assumptions and re-framed accessible housing into a mainstream problem.

73% of all dwellings are separate houses and the average home has 3.1 bedrooms. There are tremendous opportunities for universally design-led mainstream solutions. The compliance gap analyses show which design features might cost more; have potential to be designed out; or be cost neutral. Many design features are cost neutral and arguably should be included within mandated standards. As there is a minimal gap between universal design standards and current housing, there is hope that all Australians will, one day, live in a universally designed home.

The article is from the proceedings of the UDHEIT 2018 conference held in Dublin, Ireland, an open access publication.

 

Universal Design: Tangible and empathetic?

A group of students are on the grass outside the university building. they have several large cardboard shapes and appear to be arranging them in some kind of format. Universal design - tangible and empatheticStudents rarely get to practice on real clients. This means they are left with an academic understanding of issues such as inclusion and universal design. One way to help architecture students understand diversity in a tangible and empathetic way is to use age as a lens for designs. 

The Department of Architecture at Buffalo challenged students through various exercises related to the extremes of age to empathise with, and ultimately design for, small children and older people. The article explains their process and is titled:  Age-Focused Design – A Pedagogical Approach Integrating Empathy and Embodiment. Several pictures and graphics help with explanations.

From the abstract

Architects seldom design for themselves. Yet in the course of studying architecture one is rarely presented with the opportunity to design for a real client. The abstract nature of this education model prioritizes formal or technical design exploration over the role of the user.

The vague ambition of universality is difficult for students to engage with in an academic context. Approaching universal design through the lens of human age emphasizes the physical, sensorial, and cognitive modes of spatial understanding of the young and old. It offers a focused perspective through which to address difference and diversity in architectural education.

We  discuss how the approach emerged from design seminars and studios taught in the Department of Architecture at the University at Buffalo. The outcomes were tested with exercises that challenged students to research, empathize with, and ultimately design for individuals at the limits of human age.

Designing inclusively with emotional intelligence

Patricia Moore sits on a park bench looking in her handbag. She has a walking cane and is wearing a black hat an blue overcoat. She looks like she is 80 years old but she is 27.Patricia Moore is well-known to those who have followed the fortunes of universal design for some time. Dressed and behaving as an 80 year old woman she experienced the discriminatory treatment older people face every day. Her article with Jörn Bühring asks designers and business leaders to use social and emotional intelligence in their designs. They claim the philosophic challenge is to ask “Why not?” rather than “Why?” 

“Designers don’t speak of limitations, instead they tend to focus on possibilities. The emergence of ’inclusivity’ in design supports the conviction that where there is a ’deficit’, we will present a solution. “Where there is ignorance, we will strive for enlightenment. Where there is a roadblock, we will create a pathway”.

The title of the paper is, Emotional and Social Intelligence as ’Magic Key’ in Innovation: A Designer’s call toward inclusivity for all. 

Teaching universal design: Progress so far

A group of five students cluster around a computer screen. They look as if they are seeing something important.Tom Vavik argues that there are four pillars to teaching universal design to design students: benefits to society and individuals, laws and regulations, UD thinking as a creative tool and increased market potential. Vavik identifies four main changes that have occurred in UD teaching:

    1. From universal design as basic principles to universal design as an inclusive design process.
    2. From physical to cognitive accessibility due to becoming a digital society.
    3. From usability and functionality to non-stigmatising aesthetics
    4. From second to first year curriculum and not being a separate course.

In his short paper, Facilitating the Concept of Universal Design Among Design Students – Changes in Teaching in the Last Decade, Vavik argues for another four factors that instructors need to consider in teaching universal design:

    1. Decide what the overall learning outcome is, what specific knowledge, skills and experience the students should obtain.
    2. Identify ways to influence the students’ attitudes and ethical values related to the design practice and profession in a universal design perspective
    3. Identify what kind of design theory and literature the teaching is based on
    4. Identify the most relevant themes and tasks for the students to work on and ascertain when they are mature enough for this kind of teaching

Abstract 

This short paper describes and reflects on how the teaching of the concept of Universal Design has developed in the last decade at the Institute of Design at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO). Four main changes are described. Firstly, the curriculum has evolved from teaching guidelines and principles to focusing on design processes. Secondly, an increased emphasis is put on cognitive accessibility. Thirdly, non-stigmatizing aesthetics expressions and solutions that communicate through different senses have become more important subjects. Fourthly the teaching of universal design has moved from the second to the first year curriculum.

Learning about Standards and Universal Design

view from the back of a university lecture theatre where students are seated listening to a lecture. Learning about standards and universal design.It is assumed that students in design disciplines, such as engineering, automatically learn about standards and how they are developed. According to an article by Jenny Darzentas this is not the case. The way standards are developed and written makes them difficult to understand and apply. Too much emphasis is placed on “learning on the job”. Darzentas says that education about standards in universal design courses would be beneficial. In Japan, Korea and China this is included, but not in Europe and North America. 

Access to standards documents is not usually discussed as a barrier to accessibility and universal design. However, people not only need easy access the documents, but also the information should be easy to access. Is this an argument for standards to follow the concepts of universal design?

The title of the article is, Educating Students About Standardisation Relating to Universal Design“. How well do Australian universities address standards in courses where universal design is part of the course?

Abstract

Standardisation education is rarely taught to students in the design disciplines in academic settings, and consequently there is not much evidence about best practices. This paper examines this situation, and elaborates on some of the possible reasons for this situation. Further, it gives an example of how students may be instructed and encouraged to further their interests in standards and the standardization-making process as a means for increasing Universal Design in practice.

This article comes from the published papers from the 2016 Universal Design Conference held in York, UK, which are open access.

Designing around people

Book cover - dark blue background with white writing for the title, Designing Around People.Designing Around People is the publication of sessions held across three days held at University of Cambridge (UK). Known as CWUAAT (Cambridge Workshops on Universal Access and Assistive Technology), it is an international gathering of people interested in inclusive design across different fields. Designers, engineers, computer engineers, ergonomists, ethnographers, policymakers and user communities, meet, discuss and collaborate. People come from diverse communities to this biennial workshop; France, India, China, Norway, Slovakia, USA, Denmark and many more. A good reference for anyone researching inclusive practice.

As the range of topics is diverse, individual chapters are available for purchase if you don’t have institutional access from SpringerLink.  You can download the PDF of the Preface and the chapter list from the link. 

Mapping Access: People and Place

A Google map with icons for parking and transport - Google is mapping access.Creating access maps using data collected from individuals is part of a Google Maps project. But there is more to this than just knowing how to get from one place to another when you are a wheelchair user. What does it say about architecture and how we value citizens? Codes for architectural compliance do not include the human perspective of how people actually use places and spaces and relate to each other. Mapping access is important for people and place.

Google has updated this information on a blog page which tells you how to find the accessible places on Google Maps. 

The City of Sydney accessibility map has different filters such as toilets, car parks, lifts and mobility parking. The top left hand navigation pane is not clear but clicking on icons should bring up desired results. 

Example of a step-free transport map

Bottom right hand corner of the tube map showing the legend of all the different level of accessThis isn’t something from Transport for London, it’s from a blog site, Step Free London. It shows what can be done with transport maps when users know that attention to detail is everything. The personal experience sets it apart from other maps. An access icon can mean so many things, and this is shown in the legend of the map. For example it could be either: Full step-free access; Step-free access via ramp; Step-free access towards one direction; Out-of-station interchange; and Separate entrance for each direction, plus other combinations of partial access.

The blog site has good information for map designers. It also contains all the latest information about travelling by train in London.

UD in housing: Better Living Design webinar

A single storey home with a footpath out front. Caption underneath says, " Change how consumers perceive great design".Richard Duncan from the RL Mace Universal Design Institute presents a 50 minute webinar on universal design in housing. The first 20 minutes covers the basics such as demographics. At the 19 minute mark he starts to show the misconceptions about how some people think UD might look in a home and then goes on to show what UD should really be about. It’s a bit long winded, but you can forward the video to the parts you want. One of the key messages in the video is the comparison of wheelchair specific design, which is what some people think UD is, and mainstream family home design with UD features. This is part of their Better Living Design project.

 

Accessibility Toolbar