Remodeling Now to Avoid Accessibility Problems Later
From the March 2, 2011, issue of The New York Times comes this article about the growing number of people becoming aware about Universal Design and the advantages it offers.
Universal Design Pioneer: Why Design Still Excludes Many
Pattie Moore, a gerontologist who studies the social science of aging, designs products with older adults in mind. When Moore was 26 she disguised herself as an 80-year old woman and taveled to over 100 cities across the US and Canada. Moore had nine characters, ranging from a homeless woman to a rich woman with […]
Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) w/captions and description
Raising the Floor, a consortium of academic, industry, and non-governmental organizations and individuals are working to develop what they call the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure, a cloud-based personalized interface system that could change the landscape of assistive technologies. The Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) would allow people who cannot use the standard interfaces on devices […]
AIA Design for Aging Review Report
In 2011, the American Institute of Architect’s Design for Aging Knowledge Community conducted its eleventh biennial Design for Aging Review design competition (DFAR11). This report on the DFAR11 describes the changing landscape of today’s senior living industry and demonstrates how the unique and innovative features of the award-winning facilities can serve as a bench mark […]
Your city should be your greatest ally in health and well-being
Growing out of our authorship and implementation of the NYC Active Design Guidelines, our healthy living guiding principles match the Mayor’s commitment to create a built environment that adds to a sense of well-being for individuals, families and neighborhoods. D+CE 2.0 brings new attention to mental health and physical needs of the culturally diverse population of […]
Emotiv
The Emotiv headset is a personal computer interface that works by detecting facial expressions and electric signals produced by the brain. Some of the applications currently compatible with the Emotiv include games that give players the fantasy of having supernatural powers and an onscreen keyboard that allows people with locked-in syndrome to communicate. Eventually the […]
Accessible and inclusive transport: can we achieve it?
Have you ever been to a foreign city and not been able to figure out the names of the stations or directions of that city’s metro? Did you feel completely lost and upset with whoever designed the system? Maybe as a parent you have tried taking a bus with a stroller and gave up because […]
Living with dementia demands better design, says Kingston Professor
New research by Kingston University has revealed how design can improve the quality of life for people with dementia. The University hopes the new study will form a blueprint for future building, lay-out and management of care homes.
Bollards – IRELAND 24-Hour Design Challenge
An urban navigation system won the Judges Award in the Centre for Universal Design Excellence first ever 24-Hour Design Award Challenge. The design contest consisted of five teams working with an “expert user,” called a “design partner,” to develop a product or service that addresses a challenge commonly faced by the design partner on the […]
Fair Housing Act: Good, But Good Enough?
From the October 2009 Universal Design Newsletter By: Denise Hofstedt While the Fair Housing Act has been responsible for adding more than 1.6 million accessible housing units across the country over the last 19 years, it is often blasted for its shortcomings. Disability advocates claim Fair Housing units are difficult to find and once found […]