Happy Thought for 21 April 2023

Have a Happy Thought: 

 

People are hard at work making sure that more and more people can access what they need – both in the physical world, and in this weird world of the interwebs and computers.

 

In the physical world (did you know some people call it “meatspace”? that’s just… a little too weird for me), there’s this thing called Universal Design (it has a bunch of names, but we’ll stick with this one for now). It looks at how we design buildings, streets, seats, traffic lights, and more. The idea is if you design a city to work for people that find it hard to navigate, then it makes that city easier for literally everyone. 

 

If you’re thinking “hey I don’t need this, everything works for me right now”, first of all – congratulations, you’re already benefiting from the fact that people have put thought into designing for people who think, move, and are shaped like you! Any time you’re using something adjustable – like moving a car seat forward or back, or adjusting the headband on a baseball cap, you’re benefiting from this sort of thinking.

 

Here’s some more examples on a larger scale:

 

How do you make a large staircase friendly for wheelchairs, walkers, or anyone else who has trouble navigating stairs? While making it look really cool?

A very wide staircase with a zig-zag ramp criss-crossing the stairs four times

Robson Square steps, Vancouver BC, Canada. ©www.dreamstime.com, from https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/2020/06/03/a938-15-examples-of-truely-inclusive-architecture/

 (edit: the cool ramp above still has accessibility issues - thanks to a reader for deepening my understanding of what truly universal design is and does! https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/robson-square-province-reax-1.5265090)

 

How can you extend the joy of a swingset to even more people?

A child in a wheelchair plays on a swing designed for this, with two adults helping her swing

A wheelchair-accessible swing in Uraguay ©Marcelo Roux, from https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/2020/06/03/a938-15-examples-of-truely-inclusive-architecture/

 

And in the virtual world, companies like Microsoft recognise that there can be barriers to using systems, too.

What I really like about the way they’ve set out their design principles, is that it clearly shows how all of us, yes every single one, will probably need these at some point in our lives. Pointing out that there can be permanent, temporary, or situational barriers to being able to easily access things – and like A4E, the idea is to accommodate for all of these situations, meaning that everyone benefits – how cool!

 

a grid showing examples of permanent, temporary and situational "disabilities" for each of the senses of touch, see, hear, speak. For example, a permanent hearing disability is being deaf; temporary would be an ear infection; situational is a bartender in a loud bar.
From https://inclusive.microsoft.design/#InclusiveDesignPrinciples