Universal Design

Universal design is a design philosophy and approach that allows equitable access to and usability of products and environments for all people regardless of abilities, age, and other human characteristics. In addition, this design approach is now being applied to equity and access to services for individuals as well. The early ideas and use of universal design were focused on the needs of people with disabilities and may have been driven by legislation about the rights of people with disabilities. However, a more current view is concerned that design should focus on the needs of all individuals whether they are old or young, with or without disabilities, and so on. Ronald Mace is credited as being the first to use the term universal design and ...