The Sunday Mail
Dr Christine Peta
Disability Issues
THE concept of universal design is commonly described as “design for all ages and abilities”.
It means a design that can be used by all people, to the greatest extent possible and without the need for adaptation or specialised design.
The fact that the design must be used by all people means it needs to be useful for everyone, including people with disabilities. By saying to the greatest extent possible, it means the design must work for as many people as possible, regardless of differences in mobility, communication, vision, hearing and mental health, throughout every stage of the human lifespan.
By saying without the need for adaptation or specialised design, universal design means inclusivity of all generations and health conditions. With universal design, no individual is compelled to change the way he or she typically interacts with something.
The principles of universal design should not just be applied to physical infrastructure and environments, but, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, they should also be applied to product, service and programme design, under which we must also consider the needs of people with disabilities.
For example, some people think they have upheld the principles of universal design if they ensure that one of every five toilets built at a school is accessible to learners with physical disabilities who use wheelchairs.
One official in a rural district said: “It’s not like we don’t think about disabled people. In this school, we think about them. If you look at these toilets, you see that we have a toilet for disabled children, whose door is wider than the others, so our learners who use wheelchairs can enter the toilet with ease. With this new model, we are seeing that we are providing a toilet for disabled people, so we are doing very well.”
The above quote reveals lack of understanding of the principles of universal design, which have been adopted worldwide as best practice.
The point is there is no need to construct one toilet in a block of five, which is meant to be used specifically by learners with physical disabilities (wheelchair users), because such practice perpetuates isolation, stigma and discrimination. The practice is also not in line with principles of the universal design framework, which clearly prohibit segregation.
All toilets at a school must be universally designed, so that learners with disabilities, including wheelchair users, can use whichever toilet is free.
Solution
There is need to adopt the seven principles of universal design in infrastructure, environments, products, services and programmes in all sectors. The principles include equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, size and space for approach and use.
Equitable use
Anyone should be able to use a design regardless of who they are and what they are capable of doing — no one should be excluded.
Flexibility in use
A design must provide choices that can accommodate or appeal to the most possible users, who can go at their own pace and accurately complete tasks, regardless of their way of doing so.
For example, blind people can benefit from listening to an audio recording, but the same information can be made available in video format, with Sign Language or closed captions for deaf persons.
Simple and intuitive use
There is no need for designs to be unnecessarily complex, for example, websites should be designed in such a way that they are easy to navigate, with most popular titles being at the top of the home page and search buttons being large enough to notice and access.
Perceptible information
Important information must be presented in a number of ways, for instance, in pictures and words, audio format and Sign Language.
Tolerance for error
A user must be able to undo errors or stop the errors from happening, for example, if you accidentally tap the “buy” button, there must be room for an overlay to pop up, thus, asking you to confirm if you intend to add the item to your cart or to undo the action and remove the item.
Low physical effort
The principle applies to both architecture and digital technology. Using a computer all day can be tiring, so designs should minimise effort by making sure users do not have to constantly move their cursor around a page to complete a task or make a task overly complicated.
Size and space for approach and use
Elements should be laid out and sized in a way that enables all users to touch, click or manipulate them with ease. Relevant buttons on a website should be large enough for the user to touch or click them on a computer, and in the case of the mobile phone, they should not be too large that they make it impossible to comfortably see any other part of the screen.
Dr Christine Peta is a disability, policy, international development and research expert, who is the national director of Disability Affairs in Zimbabwe. She can be contacted on: [email protected]
