The University at Buffalo’s Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center), a world-recognized pioneer in the field, hopes to push universal design into standard practice with a new research-backed assessment and certification program that walks users through the entire process, from planning the project, through building design, and including facility operation.
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.
