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International Seminar on Environmental Accessibility, Beirut, 1999
Report Contents:
Resources:
 Design Manual for Environmental
Accessibility
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Accessibility
  
II. SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION
F. Universal design: strategies for teaching
Prof. Abir Mullik began his presentation by recalling that universal design is about
human scale, providing choices and promoting social inclusion. There are seven principles
of universal design: (a) equitable use, (b) flexibility in use, (c) simple and intuitive
use, (d) perceptive information, (e) tolerance for error, (f) low physical effort, and (g)
size and space for approach and use. Universal design suggests a mode of inquiry and
raises questions about participant in a design process. It constructs a relationship
between our expectations and participation in design.
Universal design seeks to respond to a broad and diverse community of users who daily
interact with products created by designers. It also is about including users in the
design process at the level of aesthetics and technology. Notable among the early
proponents of universal design was Prof. Raymond Lifchez, who brought actual users into
the design studio setting rather than have the fellows deal with design standards and
legal requirements as abstract considerations.
Strategies for teaching universal design were derived from the Universal Design
Education Project in the United States, which was organised to identify measures to
include universal design principles as an integral component of design curricula.
Forty-five proposals were received. The study suggests that there is no one curriculum for
teaching universal design. Many programmes submitted were multidisciplinary and all
incorporated the following techniques: (a) community involvement, (b) experimental
learning and (c) use of "user-experts".
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