Ages ago, the only gadget was a pair of specs. When not used, they hung neatly from one’s neck. If I hung today’s gadgets from my neck, I’d soon be crippled. Gadgets start with the cell phone. Next would be the TV clicker. But given today’s level of remote controls,...
Destination or Journey?
One day, there will be the ultimate universal design handbook. It will have well conceived answers to every design quandary, each achieved cost effectively and with elegance. No. That would be as if universal design was a destination, a place we arrive at where solutions were the intention of its...
Dragon
Much assistive technology ends up benefitting us all; fax machines and closed captioning are two biggies. Yet another one is making it big: speech-to-text, also known as speech or voice recognition software. Originally designed as an alternative input device specific to the challenges of typing, it now is increasingly used...
Driving
For most Americans, driving is the primary access to a world beyond our doors. It gets us to work, it gets the kids to school, it helps us shop, go to worship and socialize. When driving isn’t an option, chances are you just entered a different world called isolation. The...
Education Saved the Day
Long, long ago, in a distant galaxy, around 2006, a Google search for universal design would give you under three million results. Today, it’s 41,200,000! This is a fast growing field as we prepare for a planet with an older population. Students considering career choices: look into universal design! This...
Emergency Planning
We know the emergency prep basics but what would make them more universal design? The short answer is, not much. If you have a universal design environment, you’re in good shape. Where emergency planning might be more universal design is in its thorough application and in you actually being prepared....
Consciousness Precedes Form
Being green has been around for a long time. However, in the last year a tipping point was reached and green is now visible everywhere. Governments are doing it, business is doing it, schools are teaching it, and even the “bad” guys, such as the petroleum industry, are dabbling with...
Denial
Times have changed and immediate gratification is valued higher than long term planning. This is certainly one of the reasons universal design is slow in being widely adopted. Another is the reluctance to acknowledge our aging bodies. This is the denial of our becoming old, frail and helpless. Burr …...
Destination or Journey, Part II
In May 2008, I wrote the following: “One day, there will be the ultimate universal design handbook. It will have well conceived answers to every design quandary, each achieved cost effectively and with elegance. No. That would be as if universal design was a destination, a place we arrive at...
Born Again
Have you raised a child? I often wonder what I learned in school that was so great: geometry, endless history, exotic authors, extreme science? After years of school there was so much practical stuff that I didn’t know: how to cook, nutrition, conflict resolution, and child rearing. Simply bizarre, even...