Out of the millions of disabled people living in the UK, only a small percentage have illnesses that can actually be seen. Those with ‘invisible disabilities’, from Crohn’s disease to chronic fatigue syndrome, often face specific challenges as people fail to recognise that anyone who is not visibly impaired could require support, such as accessible toilets and parking spaces.
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.
