Nearly one in five people have a disability in the U.S., yet most playgrounds aren’t built to accommodate them. However, recently, cities have shifted away from the standard playgrounds of the past in favor of more natural, adventurous, and engaging designs.
Universal Design (UD) is an approach to design that increases the potential for developing a better quality of life for a wide range of individuals. It is a design process that enables and empowers a diverse population by improving human performance, health and wellness, and social participation (Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012). It creates products, systems, and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation.
