Overview
Writing about universal design implies tracing back to the origin of the concept. In the 1970s, architect Ron Mace came up with the idea of universal design. Taking from his lived experience, as a wheelchair user, he understood the difficulties faced by people with disabilities as they try to move around buildings, roads, and public transport systems to mention but a few. He came up with the term “universal design” to characterize the importance of creating products and services that are beautiful, usable, and enjoyable by everyone, regardless of ability, age, or status in life.
To continue his work, in 1997, The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University expanded Mace’s vision of the importance of designing inclusive environments for everyone. Universal design aims to create inclusive and equal access to resources, technology, or spaces for all users.
How inclusive is universal design? To answer this question, we must examine the overall effect of a design’s recognition of human tapestry, diversity, and disabilities. Thus, this writing will consider the following:
- Universal Design
- Inclusive Design
- Design for All
- Benefits of Universal Design
- Challenges of Universal Design
- The Seven Design Principles
Three similar design approaches are often interchanged for one another when a universal design is mentioned, namely universal design, inclusive design, and “design for all”. All these design approaches share one thing in common, they aim to create products that will bring happiness to the greatest number of people. But they differ in some ways.
1. Universal Design
This approach creates a single product to include and satisfy a wide range of users, incorporating users’ characteristics, such as physical and cognitive abilities, race, gender, age, and ethnicity into the design. It is a one-cap-fits-all approach.
2. Inclusive Design
This approach connotes all requirements of accessibility. It does not exclude any part of the community or individuals and aims to provide equal access to opportunities and resources for diverse people, who are often excluded from “mainstream” designs. Inclusive design accounts in its design process for the differences and backgrounds of users, including genders, cultural diversities, language subcultures, and ethnicities. It offers many design solutions that are accessible, accommodating, usable, culturally sensitive, and enjoyable.
3. Design for All
This approach aims to embed accessible features into the design process from the get-go. It considers the needs of all users and allows changes in one design to accommodate all of them. This approach ensures that users with disabilities are involved in the design process from the beginning and that their needs are duly met throughout the development cycle of the product. “Design for all” encourages accessibility by default and limits the reactive tendency of trying to make products accessible after initial release.
Universal design is not without some drawbacks. There are a few challenges with it. However, there are quite some benefits of adopting universal design.
4. Benefits of Universal Design
- Increased Accessibility – It makes products and services accessible to a wide variety of users, including people with disabilities, and those without disabilities.
- Enlarged User Base – It makes accessible products and services reach beyond the target base of users because it considers a wide range of user needs.
- Enhanced User Experience – It advocates for products and services that are equitable, simple, flexible, perceptible, and target size. It gathers a strong and happy user experience for all users.
- Robust – It ensures that products and services meet future user needs and changes in technologies.
- Legal – It complies with accessibility standards and guidelines and with other regional of state accessibility requirements.
5. Challenges of Universal Design
- Complexity – Designing for a wide range of users in one design may be hard to achieve because it may require more resources, effort, and maintainability.
- Trade-offs – Universal design includes making provisions for different users in one design which is always a delicate balance to accomplish. The product may end up becoming a one-size-fits-all and have limited buy-ins or a small user base.
- Auditing – Since the product or service is for a wide range of users, universal design demands extensive user testing and validation to ensure that the product or service is accessible to all users.
- Creating Awareness – Different and interested stakeholders may require training and understanding of the principles and merits of universal design.
Neither the benefits nor the challenges would outmatch the need for universal design, inclusive design or design for all. Each approach caters for accessibility for all regardless of their abilities. Catering for everything accessibility entails following the seven design principles no matter the approach you might have chosen.
6. The Seven Design Principles
Universal design has seven principles that help designers create products that will benefit everyone. All the examples used below in diagrams are mobile applications to illustrate further the meaning of the principles.
Equitable Use - Design products and services that people of all ages, sizes, and abilities can use.
Flexibility in Use - Design products and services that users can use in multiple ways to accommodate different user preferences and abilities.
Simple and Intuitive Use - Design products and services with an intuitive interface that users find easy to understand and use.
Perceptible Information - Design products and services with clear communication to ensure users have the information they need to use the product successfully.
Tolerance for Error - Design products and services with built-in safeguards. Help prevent users from making mistakes or encountering unexpected results.
Low Physical Effort - Design products and services that demand minimal physical effort to use.
Size and Space for Approach and Use - Design products and services with enough size, space, reach range, or manipulation area for a variety of user needs and abilities.
Without doubt, Ron Mace’s concept of universal design mooted the idea for inclusivity in the way that products, services and environments are designed. His idea did not fall on deaf ears. It triggered a spectrum of accessibility thinkers, discourses, and tools: Cynthia Waddel and her Cynthia Says, Bobby and his Bobby Badge, Len Kasday and his WAVE (Web Accessibility Versatile Evaluator), W3C and their WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative), Jim Thatcher and his first IBM screen reader, Apple and its VoiceOver and many more.
Thus, Mace’s idea of universal design has become one that is making user experience a greatest happiness given to the greatest number of people, if not all.
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