Category: Magazine and newspaper articles

The Microsoft Inclusive Tech Lab is a hub for product development where members of the disability community get to co-design, test, share, and create more inclusive and accessible products. This is where staff and community members work together to create inclusive products for Microsoft.

Microsoft announced new accessibility initiative at the Microsoft Ability Summit. The lab has every support to accommodate every disability. This dedicated space means more people can participate in the co-design process.

The lab is the next step on from the dedicated Xbox team and the Adaptive Controller. Some of the team members got together and created the space and then it evolved beyond gaming to other products.

The lab is described as an embassy for people with disability to demonstrate what is possible when products are intentionally built to be accessible for everyone. See more in the video below.

The lab design

The Tech Lab team had to design the space from the ground up. The floor design has visually distinct patterns. Tactile surfaces like wood and carpet makes them easier to distinguish for people using canes. Felt baffles help with acoustics and lighting levels are controllable. Care was taken with the design of bathrooms, door widths and doorways.

Endgadget website has more on the story with more detail about the designers and the lab. Or you can visit the Microsoft website for their story.

Is urban planning racist?  We could also ask if urban planning is ableist or sexist. The answer to all three is probably, ‘yes’, but to what degree. Lisa Stafford argues strongly that planning is ableist, and transport planners have been considering gender for a while now. In a FastCo article, one architect believes there is racial segregation by design. 

Segregation by Design in the United States aims to document the destruction of communities through urban renewal and freeway construction.  Australians are familiar with this as ‘gentrification’ where certain groups of people are excluded and their social networks decimated. And it is likely to segregate other groups too.

Segregation by Design highlights 80 American cities destroyed by racist planning. It does this though annotated satellite imagery, historical ‘redlining’ maps, and archival photos. Redlining is a term for race-based exclusionary tactics in real estate in the US. 

The title of the FastCo article is, Segregation by Design: How one architect is vizualising the legacy of America’s racist urbanism. The case studies usefully illustrate the arguments and there are links to other references. 

“Segregation By Design joins the conversation at a time of unprecedented spending on American infrastructure. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 unlocks over $1 trillion to remake cities with the promise of a better future. While more money is not the only answer to the mechanisms of oppressive public planning, it’s a promising start. For Susaneck and his passion project, understanding urban planning’s racist past is the key to constructing more equitable cities in the future—filled with accessible public transit, pedestrian-friendly roads, and ample public space for all.”

 

There are many reasons why some people have difficulty communicating. It can arise from a brain injury, a stroke, or a condition such as motor neurone disease. Inability to communicate easily means that often people avoid social situations due to feeling inferior. The Conversation has an article on inclusive communication strategies.

The Conversation article, We can all help to improve communication for people with disabilities, lists some of the simple things that remove the barriers to communication. They range from the type of devices used by Stephen Hawking, to just giving the person time to finish what they are trying to say. Speech is just one aspect of the issue, hearing is the other. There is useful information under each of the headings in the article:

1. 1. Remove communication barriers
   2. Prepare for communication success
   3. Build a conversation together
   4. Use communication aids and alternative strategies when you talk.  

Around 5% of the population, or 1.2 million Australians have a communication disability. It can affect their speech, language, listening, understanding, reading, writing, or social skills.

Communication disability can be lifelong (as for people with cerebral palsy or intellectual disability) or acquired (as for people with stroke and aphasia, motor neurone disease, or traumatic brain injury).

COTA NSW ran a webinar on the Do’s and Don’ts of Downsizing. The first speaker talked about downsizing ‘stuff’ and getting organised whether moving or not.  The second speaker (23 minute mark) gives sound advice about choosing a new home or adapting an existing home. The third speaker (36 minute mark) tells her experience of moving house and provides first hand advice.

The webinar concludes with a panel discussion. One important point raised was how to manage conflict when one partner wants to move and the other doesn’t.  Rather than enter a win-lose situation, start a discussion on “what life do you want to have?”

This approach could also apply to discussing living arrangements with an ageing parent, whether it’s adaptations or moving. Many older people don’t want change and then matters are taken out of their hands when a health crisis occurs. Better to have a home that you can go back to rather than go into care. 

The speakers are Peter Walsh, Margaret Ward, and Christy Owen. It’s chaired by COTA NSW President Joan Hughes. The webinar is one and half hours in total. 

You can also find the video on YouTube. 

Accessible pedestrian signals are evolving. Audible crossing signals devised for people with low vision are a signal for all of us that it’s safe to cross the road.  And now we have the “guiding sound corridor” which gives increased guidance to reach the other side more easily. As soon as a pedestrian activates the signal, the guiding sound corridor emits at both ends of the crossing. Then they just have to follow the sound to cross the street. It gives greater safety and independence because the signal ensures they are going in the right direction.  

An article in the Inclusive City Maker blog explains the system. From a city planner perspective, this kind of device can encourage more walking for people with low vision and their companions.

How does it work?

The blog post explains that a guiding sound corridor needs to have 3 elements to be perfectly efficient:

1. 1. 1. Poles with the accessible pedestrian signals (APS) need to be located face to face, on the same side of the crossing.
      2. The broadcast emitted by the audible pedestrian signals need to be led towards the crossing,
      3. Activation of the APS needs to be simultaneous –  both sides of the crossing are synchronized and paired.

A video on the blog site illustrates how it works.

It’s taken a pandemic to realise that for most people aged care isn’t something they choose or want to remain in. And it won’t be in the future. But what can we do differently? A workshop led by University of Queensland and aged care providers came up with a novel idea – ageless communities. This is what older people have been asking for.

The changes to home design in the building code will help people who buy/rent new homes in the future. So it’s time to re-think aged care design. A workshop run by The University of Queensland found that people wanted a real home with a real front door. So large institutional models are no longer in favour.

Another key theme was staying put and bringing services to the home.  Micro communities linked to the wider community are a good alternative. Homes with front doors on public streets are good for any age if the homes are designed appropriately. The University of Queensland project also responds in part to the Royal Commission into Aged Care. Small home models were one of the recommendations. The article is titled Smaller ageless communities predicted for care design.

Homes for life beyond 100

The “senior housing industry” in the United States is staying with the notion of segregation as the solution to living in later life. Residents could stay for as long as 40 years and that means their business model has to change. How these places are planned and built need a product recall. That’s what Nate Berg writes in a FastCompany article.

Health and fitness, intergenerational housing, and introducing university students into the mix is part of the new way of thinking. The way the designs are described in the article seem like good designs for all ages. Why can’t people of all ages walk from their apartment to the shops and restaurants? Segregated housing for people in later life perpetuates ageist attitudes and reinforces stereotypes. The notion of walkability and amenity is something everyone can enjoy.

Staying connected

According to the article senior housing models are changing from insular layouts to one that’s more connected and encouraging of social interaction. Interweaving senior housing with preschool activities is part of this “new” idea. The title of the article is How to design homes for life well beyond 100. It also covers issues of affordability and being creative with small spaces. 

If we are to combat ageism inclusive designs have much to offer. A new version of the segregation model might not be the way of the future after all. However, the senior housing industry both in the US and Australia is expecting to sell more of their products in the future. Building family homes that will last your lifetime is a challenge to their business model.

Ageing is ordinary – everyone is doing it. But somehow it’s thought of as an older person’s state of being. Policies, buildings, places, and products have a side-bar for older people. These side-bars are separate special policies, places to live, places to go and things to use. However, older adults want ordinary designs that work for them as well as others. It’s what gives a sense of inclusion and belonging. This segregation and stereotyping is not good for health. What older adults need is more universal design.

Peter Snyder is an advocate for universal design across products, services and built environment. In his article he explains the impact of “specialness” on the health and well-being of older adults. Stereotyping is particularly damaging. Some stereotypes are obviously not true, such as older people can’t deal with technology. But that doesn’t stop people from perpetuating them and that includes older people themselves. 

When older people complete a memory test after reading that older people have impaired memory function, they perform more poorly than those who didn’t read the material. And the reverse is true. A positive statement brought about an improvement in the memory test. Snyder adds that if cognitive decline was a basic human trait, it would be seen across all cultures. However, this is not the case. 

Snyder’s article argues that our beliefs about the ageing process have a significant impact on our wellbeing in later life.

The role of designers

If and when we need a product to help with a daily task, why does it need to be a special one? And why does it have to be purely functional with no aesthetics considered in the design? Too many functional products are clunky and ugly. It’s why people shun such products such as walking canes and mobility devices. It’s depressing. 

By definition, stereotypes are rarely, if ever, true – even positive ones.  But used as positive feedback it can work. But not by citing such things as “older people are wiser”. It is done by creating services and products that are inclusive so that age becomes irrelevant. This is why older people need universal design. 

A good article showing the unintended consequences of ageist stereotypes on health and wellbeing and what designers can do about it. The title is, Universal Design as a Paradigm for Providing Health Interventions for Older Adults. 
  

The new card design by Mastercard has taken account of people who are blind. It is a classic example of a small design change making a huge difference. And it’s all achieved by cutting a shape on the edge of the card. There are three types of card: credit, debit and prepaid. So there are three different notches. The inclusive credit card design is called the Touch Card. 

• • • Credit cards have a round notch
    • Debit cards have a broad square notch
    • Prepaid cards have a triangle notch

The design has received the approval of The Royal National Institute of Blind Persons in the UK.

Mastercard is also embedding its signature melody at checkout counters. The sound confirms the transaction has gone through – especially handy for people with vision impairment.

Mastercard also introduced the True Name card designed to support transgender and non-binary communities. 

See more on the BusinessWire website.