Universal Design: Relocation!

Thank-you blogspot. Time to move. Universal Design 2010 is moving to a new home. Come back for the official announcement and to be directed to the new website. This content will remain here and also be recorded at the new website.

My many thanks to those who have visited and taken this possibility of a easier living into real life and into your homes.

UPDATE: Bumps on the road ... the new website is launching in early February. The link to it, Universal Design Resource, will remain the same.


Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
November 24, 2009
Universal Design Resource
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Universal Design: Grandfather

Grandfather was an old Apache scout.

He didn’t see a planet heading into a long and bright future. He wasn’t a 2012’er either. He stretched the as-is timeline to about 2030; that’s when there’s nothing left … nothing. For an Apache, this wasn’t quite so foreboding. They didn’t live out of supermarkets and depend on fossil fuel. They were caretakers. They lived in harmony with nature and honored the Creator. They knew how to survive.

I am more optimistic about the future than Grandfather. There’s work to be done at every level. The old model doesn’t work. Actually, it never was a model. Much of our industrial past was a series of stumbles. Now, it’s time for a model, a well-designed model. It has to be tight – no wiggle room. It’s possible. It’s global.

Universal design is one small piece in the new model of human existence. It’s one that belongs to a larger area of respect for ourselves and our resources, one that’s been worn down over the last century. Universal design launches us on a journey that takes us back to our birthright as caretakers of the planet. No longer are homes a disposable blithe upon the land. They are valued places. We build them to thrive; they are shelter.

When you consider universal design, go beyond the how and the how much. Consider the why. Consider its purpose and usefulness. Consider how it fits into a larger design of living in harmony with nature. Consider its value. For Grandfather, shelter was more simple, more pure. Perhaps we can and will get there again. For now, universal design is a step in the right direction.


Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
November 24, 2009
Universal Design Resource
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Universal Design: I Owe You

Warning: This blog entry has strong moral overtones.

I just watched the documentary, I.O.U.S.A. It’s about our nation’s economy. What’s clear is that we don’t need a terrorist hiding in a cave or a rouge dictator to wipe out this great country, we’re doing a fine job by ourselves.

The documentary is a clean non-partisan look at our financial behavior, as individuals and as a country, and the almost certain future it will produce. Aside from the looming financial tsunami, there is a moral behavior that is deplorable. It is a lack of concern for our kids and the generations that follow. Instead of leaving them a little something to make their life easier, we are handing over a crisis, “hate to eat and run, but…”

After watching this easy to understand documentary (wow, I do understand fiscal policy), I felt an urge to drop my zeal for universal design and switch over to their wake-up agenda. I won’t. Universal design matters. Them, me and many more are waking-up in many areas of life. Sustainable people, spiritual people, health people: they are all realizing that we have to make changes and fast. Consciousness is shifting. We want the generations after us to have a good life.

Watch the movie; get the message. The website gives a short 30-minute version.

My appreciation to David Walker and his Peter G. Peterson Foundation and Bob Bixby and his Concord Coalition; thank-you for your tireless and bold leadership.

And, make your home universal design; leave a legacy.


Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
November 12, 2009
Universal Design Resource
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Universal Design: The Walk-In Tub … Brrrr

Not every idea touted as universal design makes sense.

The walk-in bathtub is one example. Do you know the one I’m talking about? The picture in the advertisement shows a young 60-ish and happy guy or gal in their bathrobe stepping in or out of the tub through a door, pleased with the ease with which they can once again take a bath.

Sure, navigating a bathtub side-wall can be difficult. Issues of strength and balance make it treacherous. Falling, as a result, is not uncommon. A doorway through the sidewall of the tub isn’t a bad solution, it’s just that while it solves one problem, it raises another … burr, cold! The advertisement doesn’t show the user sitting in the tub waiting for it to fill; this bathtub design can’t have water in it with the door open! It also doesn’t show the user sitting in the tub waiting for it to empty. Finally, it doesn’t show how it helps a person who might be transferring into the tub from a seated position. Why? Because the seated user, probably someone who uses a wheel chair, needs a raised bathtub if this door in the sidewall is going to work.

Conclusion: replacing your bathtub with a walk-in is expensive and will not have you smiling like those people in the advertisement.

Solution #1: Keep your existing tub; make other modifications that will ease its use. Add grab bars where they can be grabbed while entering and exiting the tub. Consider the ceiling-to-floor “fireman pole” grab bars that can be placed just outside the tub. Remove obstacles such as shower doors and their tracks (replace with a shower curtain). Put a transfer seat next to the tub. Put a seat in the tub – maybe the kind that electrically raises and lowers.

Solution #2: Ship the tub; replace with roll-in shower. Taking baths are more physically challenging than showers. Thus, when only one is possible, favor the shower. Have a no-threshold entry and a seat.

Solution #3: Get the walk-in tub, but not just any model, get the one that is elevated so the bottom of the seat is at the same height as a wheelchair. And finally, ask for fast fill and fast drain models thereby minimizing the “brrr” factor.


Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
November 6, 2009
Universal Design Resource
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