Universal Design: Education Saved The Day

Long, long ago, in a distant galaxy, around 2006, a Google search for universal design would give you under three million results. Today, it’s 41,200,000! This is a fast growing field as we prepare for a planet with an older population. Students considering career choices: look into universal design! This is for those of you who wish to be an early adopter and position yourself at the front of the curve – a simple advantage that only requires you to start soon. Great opportunity to innovate and make a difference for a huge number of people. Below are your first stop educational resources:

The MIT Age Lab
Inventing new ideas to improve the quality of life for older adults and those who care for them by translating technology into practical solutions. Satisfy your curiosity about unusual ways they are applying technology to aging and independent living. See their overview on YouTube.

IDeA, The Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access
"IDeA is dedicated to making environments and products more usable, safer and healthier in response to the needs of an increasingly diverse population." The primary goal is to produce knowledge and tools that will increase social participation of groups who have been marginalized by traditional design practices. Universal Design E-World is their new web focused endeavor.

Universal Design Education Online
"This web site supports the teaching and study of universal design. It also provides a place where educators can interact with each other. The site features a variety of materials for a range of disciplines, levels, and interests including: Instructional, content resources, writings, bibliography and external links."

The Universal Design Alliance
A non-profit corporation founded in March of 2003 ... to create awareness and expand the public's knowledge of universal design. Ud to date news, training opportunities and publications.

TRACE
Part of the Research & Development Center at the College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Trace develops and adapts "emerging information and telecommunication technologies, in order to create a world that is as accessible and usable as possible for as many people as possible."

The Center for Assistive Technology & Environmental Access (CATEA)
Development, evaluation, and utilization of assistive technology; and, design and development of accessible environments. CATEA is a unit of the College of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

CAST
"A nonprofit research and development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals, especially those with disabilities, through Universal Design for Learning."

The Center for Universal Design in Education at the University of Washington
"CUDE develops and collects Web-based resources to help educators apply universal design to all aspects of the educational experience: instruction, student services, information technology, and physical spaces. Try the Online Tutorial to learn more about the history, definition, applications and principles of universal design. Great knowledge base.

Universal Design Education Project at the University of Oregon
Working with the Center for Human Centered Design (Adaptive Environments), UDEP works toward merging universal design values into traditional classrooms.

The Center for Universal Design (CUD) at North Carolina State University
A national information, technical assistance, and research center that evaluates, develops, and promotes accessible and universal design in housing, commercial and public facilities, outdoor environments, and products. Our mission is to improve environments and products through design innovation, research, education and design assistance. This is where Ron Mace and universal design began; today, they are still one the best enterprises.


Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
September 30, 2009
Universal Design Resource
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Universal Design: New Videos from Ohio State

Welcomed videos from Ohio State's Universal Design team!

Check out the 5-part series on YouTube; rather than get too technical, it provides more of an impression of why you might want to include it in your next renovation project. They use a house opening party to walk you a few of the home’s features. It reinforces a sense that this is simply a better way to approach design.

Part 1 – Introduction
2:00 minutes
Part 2 - Designs for your Changing Family
3:47 minutes
Part 3 - Design Within Reach
1:02 minutes
Part 4 -Designs for All Ages and Abilities
4:24 minutes
Part 5 - End Credits
1:21 minutes


Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
September 25, 2009
Universal Design Resource
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Universal Design: Technology

What are some of the technologies that support universal design (and aging-in-place)?

PERS (personal emergency response system): These are those medical devices that you wear at home that link to a central station where help can be dispatched quickly; these little devices give you and loved ones great peace of mind … if you wear them and are conscious and able enough to push the button.

GPS (global positioning system): My teenager is zipping off on a new dirt bike; he doesn’t have to work hard to find trouble. If he’s as little as one mile away and something happens, I got a tough job tracking him down. A GPS gadget saves the day. I can go with one of the pet dog models that sends a constant signal to a handheld, or, I can get two handsets that are linked. Now, I know where he is and can rescue him quickly.

Computer Check-in: A person logs onto a site and uploads their condition; this can be as simple as, “I’m fine today,” to, “I took a, b and c meds this morning and ate x, y and c for breakfast.” One can marry the computer to a device such as a blood pressure monitor thus eliminating trips to the doctor.

Telehealth or Telemedicine: Automatic devices installed in the home and connected via internet or phone can monitor and in some cases predict your status leading to faster help or preemptive actions. For example, a sensor watches for very sudden movement suggesting that a fall might have taken place. These devices tend to serve very specific purposes and locations; it is important to apply them appropriately otherwise they become an ignored or turned off gadget (think about that smoke detector in the kitchen with its battery removed). Other systems involve your activity on a computer doing some fun exercise while in the background a program monitors your behavior catching noticeable shifts.

Wii: Yes, guess what? This electronic toy is finding greater success among adults than kids! Improve hand-to-eye coordination, heart health, balance and metabolism, AND, have fun. I hear of World Cup championships taking place in senior homes.

Remote Socializing: The computer is also an excellent social tool. I knew one grandparent who had zero interest in learning the computer. One day she saw Skype, a free internet telephone and videophone application, and she got hooked. She talks to her grandkids every night closing a physical distance of many thousand miles.

Improved design, performance and availability: Many gadgets were a disaster. A bathroom hoist designed to move you from a wheelchair to a bathtub used to be a nightmare. It was expensive, cumbersome and not safe or user friendly. Today they can be incorporated into a home appearing almost invisible, wirelessly controlled, and elegant to use.

RFID: That scratchy plastic thing you discover halfway through wearing a new shirt? It’s a radio frequency tag. Right now, it’s mostly about you not leaving the store with an unpurchased item. But soon, you will just walk out minus standing at the check-out. That radio frequency ID tag is on every item in your shopping cart and in your credit card. It all gets scanned on your way out. In your home, you’ll see applications that generate your grocery list, or, in some cases, your grocery list automatically goes to the store and generates a delivery. Never run out of milk? How about that!

Remote Controls: The oldest remote control in our home was the thermostat. Right? That was it (oh, maybe a day/night light switch for you early adopters). Now, we have a remote for everything! Expect this trend to continue, as more and more home actions will be controlled remotely. This will include lighting, improved temperature control, hands-free communication, entry and alarm systems, cooking operations, etc. (although I hope they start to improve the design of the remotes for intuitive understanding and clear function control).

As we look to the future, let’s not forget past technology that already entered our culture as a result of meeting the needs of people who were/are not fully able-bodied. These include close captioning on your TV. Originally for the deaf, it now allows a much greater number of users to watch TV in a noisy location such as an airport or bar. Luggage on wheels, speakerphones, garage door openers, ramps and people movers all were made to help a few and in turn helped us all. This very much is the spirit of universal design.

In closing, don’t forget about the many low-tech applications of universal design, simple things like a bench outside your front door. It’s the experience of independent living that brings joy, not another gadget.



Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
September 23, 2009
Universal Design Resource
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Universal Design: Born Again

Have you raised a child?

I often wonder what I learned in school that was so great: geometry, endless history, exotic authors, extreme science? After years of school there was so much practical stuff that I didn’t know: how to cook, nutrition, conflict resolution, and child rearing. Simply bizarre, even absurd, that it was assumed that I would instinctually know what to do when shepherding a little being along the path to adulthood. Well, the good thing about school is that I did learn where to find information – the library!

If you raised a child and went to the library to find out how, you would encounter a tsunami of information. The same is true in a bookstore – aisles of books. On the internet, fogedaboutit! When bringing a newborn home from the hospital, there are tons (literally) of information.

There is another time when we bring a being either into our home or into our neighborhood; it’s when we have a parent who would benefit from the extra care we can provide when they are close by. What prepares us for this? Nothing. So, back to the library (bookstore or internet). Woops! Slight problem – no information! No tons of books on the topic – not even one pound!

I’m all about universal design and advocating its wide adoption. I have the books – most of them. They occupy a whopping 15 inches on my bookshelf! That’s it, and, many are out of print. I’ve bookmarked the websites on this topic, same deal – just a handful. You are gonna stumble when trying to get useful information – chances are you don't know where to start (hint: Universal Design Resource and AARP).

OK, we do have more babies than we have parents moving back close to home. But, this is changing. Demographic and economic factors are rapidly putting us sandwichers into barely getting one being out of the house when another comes in. And so it is. But, this absence of info makes it really hard. I have to make every mistake the person did before me and those that follow will have to repeat my mistakes. Meanwhile there is all the suffering that comes as a result of an ill prepared transition.

So, that’s the way it is for now. Change will come and authors will step up to meet this rising demand for good advice. There will be a Dr. Spock for adults caring for their elders. For now, hang in there. Write a blog, share your experience, join a support group. I’m busy finishing a book on universal design and in it is a section that addresses this concern. You’ll get some help evaluating a house or apartment, a neighborhood and how to transition a full and complete life including social connections and medical ones. If you have thoughts to share, please contact me or post a comment.



Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
September 11, 2009
Universal Design Resource
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