Universal and Accessible Design for Products, Services, and Processes / Edition 1

by Robert F. Erlandson

Overview

New laws, global competition, technological advances, and evolving societal values toward disability all demand the integration of universal and accessible design principles into the general practice of the design community. This growing international movement forces competitors to expand their traditional concepts of design and adopt these principles as a core component of design and essential to success in today’s global market.

Universal and Accessible Design for Products, Services, and Processes introduces design principles informed by recent national and international legislation and global market pressures. Divided into four sections, the book begins with a broad-brush overview of the societal and global issues that continue to nurture the growth of accessible and universal design. Using clear, approachable examples, it defines and differentiates accessible versus universal design and explores their relationship in the broader context of design. Section two concerns legal issues and explains the societal concepts of disability that mold legislative mandates for accessible design. It covers changing accessibility laws and resources such as the Access Board that exist to assist with compliance. Section three presents a collection of design strategies, examples, and applications spanning as many disciplines as possible to illustrate each of the three main levels of universal design: human function principles, including ergonomics, perception, and cognition; process principles, covering flexibility, error-management, and variability; and the transcending principle of equitable design. The final section examines the evolution of universal design and future directions.

Supplying definitions, theory, and applications, Universal and Accessible Design for Products, Services, and Processes allows professional designers, educators, and students to implement these principles and understand how their application fits a broader societal and competitive design environment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780849374937
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/03/2007
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Introduction and Definitions, The Time Has Come, Design: Universal Design/Accessible, Design/Adaptable Design, Disability, Laws, and Accessible Design, Disability and Design, Accessible Design, Universal Design Principles, Strategies, and Examples, Hierarchical Structure of Universal Design, Principles and Implications for the Design Process, Ergonomically Sound, Perceptible, Cognitively Sound, Flexible, Error-Managed (Proofed), Efficient (Muda Elimination), Equitable: Transcending, Integrating, Universal and Accessible Design in the Workplace, The World Wide Web: Accessibility and Universal Design,  Ethical Considerations and Conclusions, Ethics and Universal Design, Universal and Accessible Design from a Social and Political Perspective, Index

Editorial Reviews

"I strongly recommend this text as a supplement to your normal design text, no matter what your engineering field is. The coverage is excellent and should be of value to most undergraduate design classes."

– In IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, May/ June 2008

From the Publisher