Universal design of information systems and telecommunications
means developing systems flexible enough to accommodate the broadest
possible range of users regardless of age or disability. The
time has come to think creatively, to move beyond the outmoded,
clumsy and costly approach of retrofitting systems with adaptive
equipment to create access for many end users. Universal design
calls for flexible interfaces to be built into the product at
the blueprint stage, producing systems more easily used by everyone.
Implemented in its best sense, universal design can result in
an expanded market and a mutually beneficial situation for both
industry and consumers.
The presentation will feature Electronic Curbcuts. a video
on universal design and computer interfaces, which was produced
by the Universal Access Project.
Betsy Bayha directs the Universal Access Project, an endeavor
of the World Institute on Disability, The Trace Research & Development
Center, and the CPB/WGBH National Center on Accessible Media.
The Universal Access Project, funded largely by a planning grant
from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's National Telecommunications
and Information Administration, focuses on building accessibility
for disabled persons into the information superhighway at the
design level. Through ongoing dialogue with industry, consumer
groups, agencies and related projects, consensus-based guidelines
will be developed.
More information on design for universal access is available
through the Trace Center
at Madison.