Universal design : the need for assistive & accessible technology
Designing products that promote inclusivity; fostering multicultural user experiences.
Keywords
Assistive Technology: Assistive technology is technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible.
Accessible Technology: Accessible technology is technology that can be used successfully by people with a wide range of functional abilities. When technology is accessible, each user is able to interact with it in ways that work best for them.
Human-Computer-Interaction: Human-computer interaction (HCI) is a multidisciplinary field of study focusing on the design of computer technology and, in particular, the interaction between humans (the users) and computers.
User Experience: The user experience is how a user interacts with and experiences a product, system or service. It includes a person’s perceptions of utility, ease of use, and efficiency.
Universal Design: Universal design is the design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to all people, regardless of age, disability or other factors.
Inclusive Design: Inclusive design is a design process in which a mainstream product, service or environment is designed to be usable by as many people as reasonably possible, without the need for specialised adaptions.
"Good design enables, Bad design disables”
A paradigm shift has occurred globally as a result of the dramatic rise of technology-driven products. Humans need to rely on these products and services to carry out everyday tasks. However, most new products/services frequently overlook aspects such as assistive and accessible technologies.
In such instances, it becomes impossible for some people to perform these tasks on their own. This has led to the rise for Universal Design. But before talking about Universal Design, we must ask, “What is Universal Design?”
When you produce a movie, regular design considerations will need you to ensure that the movie has crystal-clear sound. However, this leaves out people who have hearing disabilities. How can you make the movie a more inclusive experience for everyone? Answer: you add captions.
The mere addition of captions made your movie more inclusive. This is Universal Design — a design philosophy that keeps every one in mind, not just for the majority.
Universal Design benefits not only those who need special considerations, but the community as a whole.
Before we go ahead, lets look at another significant consequence of Universal Design. When we added captions to the movie, is there any other demographic that benefitted? The answer is yes: people who might not speak the language. Movies like Parasite found global fame and even won Oscars on the back of English subtitles. In this way, universal design benefits not only those who need special considerations, but the community as a whole.
This tendency is known as the “curb-cut effect.”
What is the Curb-Cut effect?
According to Wikipedia, “The curb cut effect is the phenomenon of disability-friendly features being used and appreciated by a larger group than the people they were designed for.”
Too technical? I agree, let’s break this down.
People cannot be expected to be in peak physical and mental condition all the time, every day their lives. Nobody would like to work at a job without maternity or sick leave. Similarly, nobody would like to live in an environment where they can’t be accomodated. Everyone needs special consideration at some point in their lives — pregnant women are advised to not lift heavy objects, people with fractured hands cannot drive for some weeks, the examples go on. Everyone experiences some form of impairment at some point in their lives. Having items that are already accessible to a wider range of people helps people perform more efficiently and safely in these situations.
Users don’t need to adapt to the product; the product needs to adapt to its users.
Accessibility is a boon to everyone when it is widely used.
The curb-cut helps not only those on wheelchairs, it helps everyone go about their life: people carrying strollers, people making deliveries with trolleys, people hauling suitcases, people riding bikes or skateboarding, and it also saves lives by directing people to cross at safe locations. In fact, the addition of features like this has allowed wheelchairs to be used by everyone and not just in case of permanent disability.
Curb-cut thinking leads to widespread benefits, but that isn’t its primary goal. The goal is to provide equal opportunity to whoever it is denied.
“When the nation targets support where it is needed most — when we create the circumstances that allow those who have been left behind to participate and contribute fully — everyone wins.”
-Angela Glover Blackwell
Blackwell reframes the curb-cut effect to highlight the outsized advantages of equity-based remedies. The purpose is to provide access to people who have been denied it. As an added benefit, everyone has access. We see this in many situations: Seat-belt regulation aimed at protecting children has saved the lives of many adults. Pedestrian safety was increased by bike lanes meant to protect riders. These are just some of the many examples of how disability-friendly design is universal design.
Now that we’ve established the necessity of universal design, let’s look at how products and services might be made more accessible and inclusive.
What are principles of Universal Design?
The goal of universal design is to remove barriers to access in order to accommodate a wide range of abilities. The Center for Universal Design at the North Carolina State University developed the 7 Universal Design Principles to guide the design of any product, service, or environment:
- Equitable use: The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.
- Flexibility in use: The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.
- Simple and intuitive: Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.
- Perceptible information: The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user’s sensory abilities.
- Tolerance for error: The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.
- Low physical effort: The design can be used efficiently and comfortably, and with a minimum of fatigue.
- Size and space for approach and use: The design provides appropriate size and space for approach, reach, manipulation, and use, regardless of the user’s body size, posture, or mobility.
Understanding what universal design is, what its principles are, and why it is important is only useful if we know how to apply it to products and services.
How can we create inclusive & accessible products?
The four principles of accessibility, also known as POUR, serve as a foundation for better inclusivity and ease of access whenever a new product or service is designed with accessibility in mind.
Perceivable: Perceivability refers to the user’s ability to identify content and interface elements using their senses (sight, hearing, and touch).
Operable: The ability of a user to use controls, buttons, navigation, and other necessary interactive elements is referred to as operability. The goal of implementing the principle of operability is to ensure that these users have complete control over the platform.
Understandable: Understandable technology is consistent in presentation and format, predictable in design and usage patterns, concise, multimodal, and voice and tone appropriate to the audience. Users must be able to understand the content as well as learn and remember how to use the interface.
Robust: Robust content runs everywhere, regardless of what its running on or where its being run. Robustness is achieved by being standards-compliant and designing with all relevant technologies in mind. Users should be able to select the technology they use to interact with websites, online documents, multimedia, and other types of information.
All this is too much work; I don’t think my product would have these kinds of users anyway. Why should I go for Universal Design?
Accessibility is not a barrier. It is not about the extra effort. Its not even about disability. Its about equality and ability. It levels the playing field, so that it is possible for everyone to:
- Acquire the same information.
- Interact with others.
- Get the same services.
Most importantly, it’s about the ideal that nobody should be denied access because of something they cannot control.
Designing for everyone does not hold you back — rather, it forces you to make the experience better for all your users. Moreover, it widens your reach, so you might grow beyond your wildest expectations.
One of the biggest ideals in our society is empathy. Empathy is nothing but consideration for the well being of others. The other ideal is equality — nobody should have an unfair advantage, and no one is left behind. We are the products of our society, and it is because of these ideals that we are at a point where we get to design our own products. Universal Design marries empathy with equality, and through our designs, we must strive towards this ideal.
Thanks for reading!
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References:
- https://www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/what-assistive-technology
- https://askearn.org/page/technological-accessibility
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience
- https://www.physio-pedia.com/Role_of_the_Wheelchair
- https://www.pexels.com/search/wheelchair/
- https://sketchplanations.com/the-curb-cut-effect
- https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/fall-2021/the-curbcut-effect-and-championing-equity
- https://www.washington.edu/doit/universal-design-process-principles-and-applications
- https://universaldesign.ie/what-is-universal-design/the-7-principles/#p1
- https://universaldesign.org/process
- https://uiowa.instructure.com/courses/40/pages/accessibility-principles-pour
- https://www.triconinfotech.com/blog/2019/01/24/pour-principles-ensuring-accessibility-across-technologies/
