Description

Universal Design (UD) seeks to promote equality by increasing accessibility and usability within products, services and systems so as to include as many categories of end-users as possible. UD can potentially impact such diverse issues as health, transportation, inclusive education, sports and recreation, entertainment, social welfare, inclusive employment, transgenerational/lifespan housing, inclusive tourism, accessibility, safety, and ecological concerns on sustainability. UD is an emerging discipline in developing countries whose potential as a catalyst for positive social change is yet to be fully appreciated. This book thus offers a useful discussion on the various challenges and opportunities associated with efforts to mainstream UD in majority world contexts. By interrogating the efficacy of UD-thinking, key actors including policy makers, students, practitioners, researchers, and educators within the diverse sub-disciplines of architecture, design, disability studies, ergonomics/human factors engineering, human-computer interaction (HCI)/usability studies and urban planning can promote greater social equity and cohesion through their design interventions.