Universal Design - Important for Everyone

When you hear that someone has a "disability", you may think of that person as being different from you. You might even think of everyone with a disability as being the same. The definition of disability is "a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities". In that case, each and every one of us have some form of disability. Whether it is physical, emotional, cognitive, temporary, or even permanent. Disabilities require you to find a different strategy to work around your disadvantages. Think about the word disable. It simply means not able. I don't know about you, but I'm not able to do a lot of things. Disabilities range from being short, being pregnant, having a broken arm, being in a wheelchair, being deaf, having a learning disability, or even wearing glasses. Whatever requires you to find a different way around a task, is a disability. Everyone has to find different ways to cope and navigate around their disability. 

After watching the TED talk "Why We Need Universal Design", it became evident to me that universal design is so important and so relevant in each and every person's life. Not just those that we label with a disability.  Ron Mace coined the term Universal Design by saying "Universal design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design."

Michael Nesmith, a deaf and native American Sign Language speaker, works for Amazon as a creative designer, and he finds solutions around his disability through Universal Design. Michael said, "When you achieve universal design, it snowballs. To the point when even if you don't share the same disability, everyone benefits from it." He gave the example of a doorknob. A doorknob is a fairly simple object if you are able to use it. But what about someone like a child, someone with arthritis, someone with no hands, someone in a wheelchair, a mom pushing a baby in a stroller, or even someone with arms full of groceries? Something as simple as opening a door by turning a doorknob suddenly doesn't seem so simple. Then Universal Design was utilized and automatic sliding doors were invented. Something that everyone would benefit from. We become narrow minded and overlook tasks that we have no issues completing, but never think that it may be difficult for others. What we fail to realize is that with Universal Design, if it works well for someone with a disability, it makes life better and easier for everyone. So in the end, everyone's life is positively impacted.

Click here to watch the TED talk about Universal Design