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 founded the Center for Universal Design (CUD) at North Carolina State University. At the CUD, Mace and others compiled seven basic principles of universal design: (1) equitable use, (2) flexibility in use, (3) simple and intuitive use, (4) perceptible information, (5) tolerance for error, (6) low physical effort, and (7) size and space for approach and use.

Universal design was first used in various architectural fields to keep human needs and diversity in mind when designing buildings and other environments. In other words, with the application of universal design of various environments, the focus is that environments are esthetically pleasing in form and function and allow individuals to use and access them with minimal effort and with ease. For example, enlarging the size of doorways and removing thresholds between rooms allow individuals in wheelchairs to move through the entry-ways without being restricted. An example of product development is lift-off caps on bottles and cans for easy removal by people with limited dexterity or mobility.

Universal design has also been expanded into other fields where design or elements of creativity are emphasized. Universal design is relevant within the field of educational technology, which focuses on the design, development, and implementation of instruction and learning processes in various learning environments. Additionally, educational technology is not only for the process of design for instruction and learning, but also for development of instructional and learning products, which may incorporate technological tools but not always. This entry begins by describing legislation related to accessibility and then examines universal design in education.