TOOLS TO INCLUDE BLIND STUDENTS IN SCHOOL BUILDING PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS

Other research has established seven UD principles and performance measures for the design and assessment of generic products. The objective of this research is to improve the suitability of UD for flexible packaging. The methodology used here begins by creating customer requirements from UD performance measures and packaging functions from JIS S 0022‐4. The authors propose a correlation matrix to discard uncorrelated, duplicated and irrelevant requirements from the list of requirements. The remaining customer requirements are screened by using the Index of Consistency. Then, experts check and add essential customer requirements. A factor analysis is conducted on the survey data to find the important requirements and eliminate uncorrelated requirements. The number of customer requirements is reduced from 261 to 39 with five principles corresponding to UD. The five principles relevant to UD are (a) convenient, intuitive and simple use; (b) perceptible information; (c) structure and graphic design; (d) easy opening; and (e) equitable use. The benefit of the new five principles is not only the reduction from seven principles to five principles, but also the grouped customer requirements that are easy to use for packaging manufacturers and packaging designers. Customer requirements can be used as performance measures to evaluate the compliance of flexible packaging to UD. Finally, the application of the five principles and 39 customer requirements are demonstrated with case studies. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The impact of the built environment on the participation and engagement of all people in the community is now widely recognized. The principles of universal design originated from the field of industrial design and architecture, as a design foundation for more useable products and environments. The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of architecture students towards people with a disability, comparing those who received inter-professional universal design education with those who had not. A sample of 147 Australian undergraduate architecture students (response rate 39.7%) completed the Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (IDP). Quantitative descriptive analysis of their scores was undertaken, along with inductive analysis (Mann-Whitney U tests and ANCOVA). Architecture students who had previously participated in inter-professional universal design education had significantly less negative attitudes on two items of the IDP – ‘I wonder how I would feel if I had this disability’ and ‘I am grateful that I do not have such a burden’. They also expressed significantly less fear towards people with a disability, as measured by that factor on the IDP. This study suggests education around universal design may promote more positive attitudes towards people with a disability for architecture students, but further research is required to gain a comprehensive understanding of this topic. This study also raises the issue of the need for the development of more contemporary attitudinal scales in relation to disability and impairment.

PurposeDisabled children often face problems when utilising public playgrounds, participating in activities and enjoying the areas due to insufficient equipment and bespoke spaces for their needs. This paper compares the values perceived by children with and without a disability of playgrounds in urban areas, considering user-centred design (UCD) and universal design (UD) principles.Design/methodology/approachThis study examined the extent to which the children’s playground in a selected case study, Lake Titiwangsa Park, Kuala Lumpur, has incorporated the UD principle and designed ergonomics in the planning and designing of the play equipment to support children with various abilities with different disabilities ranging in age from 3 to 10. The study conducted site observations, such as facility measurement according to UCD and UD principles and ergonomic assessment with photographic documentation, at Lake Titiwangsa Park playground. Semi-structured interviews with 11 children’s playground design experts involving landscape designers and policymakers were also undertaken. The photographic documentation was analysed descriptively, and semi-structured interviews were thematically analysed.FindingsThe results of photographic documentation indicated that despite the effort to incorporate the UCD and UD principles, the selected site was unsuccessful in supporting children with physical disabilities due to poor layout, lack of assistive features and limited application of universal design principles with different abilities. The interview results ascertained that this was due to poor knowledge among designers and policymakers of UCD and UD principles and their lack of proper understanding of children with physical disabilities’ needs.Originality/valueThis paper contributes by raising awareness among designers and policymakers about UCD and UD principles as a way forward to enhance the development of facilities for people with special needs in the future.

In the field of interior design, creating inclusive and engaging spaces is crucial. Universal Design (UD) and multisensory are supportive approaches that can work together to achieve this, however there is a lack of studies on the importance of universal design within the Malaysian interior design industry and its relationship with multisensory in buildings. UD emphasizes building environments that are practical and accessible to everyone, while multisensory highlights the significance of engaging all senses according to the principles of sensory design. Hence, the impact of multisensory on universal design in creating inclusive and accessible interior design will be discussed in this research. While compassionate design practices mediate the relationship between the principles of universal design and the principles of sensory design, this study has two objectives: To identify the necessity of implementing universal design in different types of buildings; and, to investigate the interaction between multisensory and universal design to promote compassionate design practices. Data was gathered through questionnaires given to people in the built environment industry. It is expected that different types of buildings have varying priorities for sensory aspects, and the integration of UD and multisensory design is both important and impactful.

In a rapidly growing information-oriented society, people with disabilities and older people are faced with serious inconveniences in accessing IT products due to complicated use of technologies and poorly designed interfaces. To solve the problems, it is required for designers and engineers to find out and understand user needs, and then to figure out the functionalities and design characteristics to meet the needs. Figuring out the Engineering Characteristics (EC) of products from user needs for people with disabilities and older people who have problems using main stream products due to limited accessibility would take great efforts and time. We merged two important concepts of product design for people with disabilities and older people, accessibility and universal design, using an engineering design framework of QFD (Quality Function Deployment) to provide engineers and designers with a systematic methodology for universal product design. We adapted a technical report from the ISO/IEC JTC1 Special Working Group on Accessibility (SWG-A), the Information Technology – Accessibility Considerations for People with Disabilities – Part 1: User Needs Summary (ISO/IEC PDTR 99999-1), and mapped the detailed user accessibility needs to the guidelines of 7 universal design principles which are widely accepted. We explained how a process model was built for mapping relationship between the guidelines and user accessibility needs, and extracting the critical engineering characteristics for IT product design based on these two models. A model House of Quality(HOQ) was built for such procedures.KeywordsUniversal design processUser needsQuality Function Deployment (QFD)design guidelinesISO/IEC PDTR 99999-1

Purpose: The number of the transportation poor has been steadily increased, and also the social perspective toward the disabled has been changed. Thus, Universal Design has been needed. In particular, the unknown majority of the transportation poor have frequently used the urban railway facilities which should reflect the ideals and principles of Universal Design. However, previous research has not focused on the study on critical factors of Universal Design. Based on this observation, the present study aims to find out Universal Design critical factors of urban railway station. Methods: This study explores the criteria of planning Universal Design in the urban railway station by analyzing and comparing the similar criteria used in both domestic areas and foreign countries. Result: Findings from this study are as follows. First, we found out the critical factors of Universal Design in the urban railway station by comparing and analyzing the similar criteria previously used. Second, this study also suggests the better directions toward the domestic criteria relating to the urban railway system. Third, we found the need of the universal standard as well as individually corresponding strategy. Moreover, we found the need of preparing the critical factors for the physical environments as well as the human service. Implications: The further research on findings of the planning criteria will have been continued on the basis of findings of the present study.

본 연구는 유니버설디자인의 평가방법에 AHP 기법을 적용한 연구이다. 유니버설디자인의 평가지표는 유니버설디자인의 7원칙과 일본 트라이포드 디자인사의 PPP를 검토하고, 선행연구를 참조하여 대상평가지표를 선정하였다. 선정된 평가지표는 AHP기법을 사용하여 분석하였으며, 유니버설디자인 7요소의 가중치가 도출되었다. 유니버설디자인의 중요성을 평가하는 요인으로서 '쉽게 인지할 수 있는 정보'(0.263)가 가장 중요하게 나왔으며, '오류에 대한 포용력'(0.207), '간단하고 직관적인 사용'(0.154), '적은 물리적 노력'(0.143)순으로 나타났다. '접근과 사용을 위한 크기와 공간'(0.108)이 이어서 중요하다고 나타난 반면 '공평한 사용'(0.087), '사용상의 융통성'(0.038)은 상대적으로 중요도가 낮은 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구결과를 토대로 가중치가 반영된 유니버설디자인의 평가 체크리스트를 제안하였으며, 가중치를 구하는 과정을 토대로 다양한 상황 하에서의 가중치 부여를 시도할 수 있을 것이다. This paper is about a the evaluation method for universal design on AHP method. Evaluation of Universal Design to develop indicators of the seven principles of universal design and the tripod of Design(in Japan) Review of the PPP, and previous studies were chosen with reference to a indicators. Selected variables were analyzed using the AHP technique, Universal Design 7 elements were derived weights. Factor of the most important on universal design is 'Perceptible Information'(0.263), and 'Tolerance for Error'(0.207), 'Simple and Intuitive Use'(0.154), 'Low Physical Effort'(0.143) was in order. 'Size & Space for Approach and Use'(0.108) is then shown to be important, while the 'Equitable Use'(0.087), 'Flexibility in Use'(0.038) was rated relatively low importance. Based on the results reflected a weighted evaluation of universal design checklist is proposed. Process to obtain the weights can be applied to a variety of situations.

The concept of “Universal Design” is to design products that are easy to use for everyone. With the rapid increase of the elderly population in the world, the principle of “Universal Design” has become one of the essential knowledges and design considerations for designers. The physical and mental decline of the elderly makes it difficult for them to use traditional chopsticks. The purpose of this research is to use the principle of “universal design” to design a set of auxiliary chopsticks for the elderly. First of all, this study found out the problems of using chopsticks for the elderly. Then, through expert focus group interviews and morphological analysis, the characteristics and functional requirements of chopsticks were summarized. The authors conceived creative ideas and made evaluation prototypes. The new chopsticks have passed two-stage assessment of elderly subjects. In all 7 universal design principles, the evaluation of auxiliary chopsticks is superior to that of traditional chopsticks. Further research may be needed to make improvements.KeywordsUniversal designSenior living aidsAuxiliary chopsticks

Equality for persons with disabilities is part of human rights that must be guaranteed by the state. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has been ratified by Indonesia through Law Number 19 of 2011, emphasizes the importance of applying Universal Design principles in creating an inclusive environment for persons with disabilities. This research aims to analyze the extent to which Universal Design principles have been implemented in policies and regulations in Indonesia. Using a normative juridical method through legislative and conceptual approaches, this research examines various regulations related to accessibility and the rights of persons with disabilities and compares them with international standards. The findings show that regulations in Indonesia still place Universal Design as a mere technical aspect, not as part of the fundamental rights that the state must guarantee. As a result, accessibility for persons with disabilities in public spaces, including places of worship, is still not optimal. This study confirms the need for a more comprehensive policy reformulation so that Universal Design is recognized as a human right in the Indonesian legal system. In conclusion, without significant changes in regulations and policies, the implementation of Universal Design in Indonesia will remain partial and not fully support the realization of equality for persons with disabilities.

While Universal Design principles have been adopted in many areas to ensure that products and services are usable for the broadest possible diversity of users, there is still an open area when it comes to the emergency management domain. This article aims at providing a systematic overview of the current state of the emerging research field of Universal Design of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Emergency Management, and to highlight high-impact research opportunities to ensure that the increasing introduction of ICT in Emergency Management can contribute to removing barriers instead of adding more barriers, in particular for the elderly and people with disabilities. A systematic review on relevant literature on Universal Design, ICT and Emergency Management between 2008 and 2020 was employed using predefined frameworks, to answer the following questions: (1) Who are the target audiences (stakeholders) in research on Universal Design of ICT in Emergency Management in the different categories of Emergency Management ICT tools, and to what degree is Human-Centred Design and Universal Design taken into account? (2) What are the most important challenges and gaps in research on Universal Design of ICT in Emergency Management? We identify a set of gaps in the literature, indicating that there are some challenges where Universal Design is still limitedly addressed in technology development. We also derive promising future research topics based on areas that are missing in the literature.

This field research project examined the claim that universally designed environments are significantly more usable by all consumers than equivalent non-universally designed environments. To test that claim, the project developed and tested two universal design outcome measures that examined subjective and objective indicators of environments' usability. These measures were then applied in case studies of buildings currently in use that varied in their design features' acknowledgment of the seven Principles of Universal Design.

Writing pedagogy in the early years: A study of teacher beliefs, classroom practices and influences

In the future, the world will be characterized by highly densely populations, with growing share of mobility-impaired/disabled persons, a critical problem regarding the sustainability of the metropolises, whose resolution may reside in autonomous vehicles. A broader range of users will be allowed a, so far, denied mobility in level 4 and level 5 SAE autonomous vehicles, a goal to be accomplished through Universal Design, a design which intends to be the closest possible to the ideal design. For such purpose, Human Factors and Ergonomics are key. Literature review and research have shown that there is evidence of application of the seven Universal Design principles in these new autonomous vehicles and that, given the nature and purpose of the Universal Design, with the increase of autonomy, there is natural increased evidence of Universal Design. A novel model for interaction of the Universal Design influencers is proposed.

Prescriptive and retrospective accessibility regulations, a rich architectural and cultural history, recent civil war and a distressed asset base make for considerable challenges. This paper describes how universal design principles formed the foundation of technical training delivered to Sri Lankan professionals, to assist them comply with accessibility regulations, and their obligations under the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The paper is based on work funded by the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and delivered by a delegation from the Australian Human Rights Commission. The training was based on 25 years' practitioner experience of applying universal design in the built environment. The commitment to removing barriers to the built environment for people with disabilities is evidenced by a set of robust regulations that are prescriptive and retrospective. Further, drafting and translation errors contribute to difficulty achieving these objectives and thus there is a poor level of understanding and compliance with accessibility regulations. This presented a seemingly intractable combination of difficulties. However, it was decided that providing the delegates with a robust understanding of universal design principles would allow them to navigate these difficulties by thinking about the problems differently, even if they could not achieve strict compliance. There were particular concerns about transport and the public realm. Lessons from Australia were shared including whole-of-journey transport planning and prioritisation methods such as principle pedestrian networks. Community and industry engagement were central themes to taking more strategic and universal design approach to solving complex problems.

The work considers the problem of creating a comfortable and safe space in residential environments within the limits of residential buildings.The requirements for the design of residential buildings and the improvement of the residential environment were analyzed and classified, taking into account the needs of all population groups. The main means of a comfortable, safe and barrierfree space in residential environments are defined.The consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war and other reasons led to an increase in the total number of people with disabilities, whose share in the total population is actively increasing compared to the world average.Summarizing the above and analyzing groups of people who, for one reason or another, fall into the category of low-mobility population groups and accordingly need to create an accessible environment, we can say that the issue of accessibility in urban spaces concerns 90% of spaces. Therefore, in the context of world trends and principles of universal design, it is wrong to create any special conditions of accessibility for certain groups of people. On the contrary, it is necessary to create general conditions in the urban space that are as comfortable and safe as possible for as many people as possible.Identified needs and basic principles for creating a barrier-free, safe and comfortable space in residential environments, taking into account the needs of people with disabilities, which should have the following order of priorities: accessibility, safety, informativeness, comfort, universal (inclusive) design. The main requirements for residential environments were analyzed and systematized, taking into account the needs of the less mobile population groups. The main elements of barrier-free and universal (inclusive) design were considered and analyzed in order to determine the main calculation parameters in further research and projects of living spaces.