Design for All: Not Excluded by Design

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Design for All: Not Excluded by Design A Friendly Rest Room: Developing Toilets of the Future for Disabled and Elderly People 7 J.F.M. Molenbroek et al. (Eds.) IOS Press, 2011 © 2011 The authors. All rights reserved. doi:10.3233/978-1-60750-752-9-7 Design for All: Not Excluded by Design Johan F.M. MOLENBROEKa,1, Theo J.J. GROOTHUIZENb, R. DE BRUINc a Faculty of Industrial Design – Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands b Design Consultant – Groothuizen Beheer bv, Rotterdam, The Netherlands c Erin Ergonomics and Industrial Design, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Abstract. Inclusive Design or Design for All refers to the design philosophy of including as many users groups as possible in the target population of a to-be- designed product and to be aware of the ones that are excluded. This paper explains about the history, current status and possibilities of Inclusive Design as strategy. Within the FRR-project this strategy was leading when design decisions had to be taken. The outcome is a truly Friendly Rest Room, fulfilling the needs of disabled and elderly in a non-stigmatizing manner, and thus favoured by us all. Keywords: Inclusive Design, Design for All, Universal Design 1. Introduction 1.1. The Need to Design for All In Europe and the Western world in general, the quality of life for its inhabitants has dramatically improved over the last couple of decades. The numbers of people that reach the age of 65 have been fast growing. For instance in the Netherlands 6% of the population in 1900 was aged 65+ to more than 12% in 2000 and perhaps 25% in 2050. Other countries in Europe show the same trend; it has to cope with a declining fertility rate and increased life expectancy [1]. As a consequence the population of Europe will slightly shrink, and importantly, will be much older. We even can speak of a double greying society; there will be more elderly and these elderly get older. Typical is the group fastest growing within the European population: the so-called ‘centenarians’, the people over 100 years of age. While in 1900 there were only a few centenarians per country, for instance in France there were around 2000 people aged 100 or older in 1990. In the European countries and Japan on average, the number of new centenarians increased at an annual rate of about 7% between the 1950s and the 1980s. In Finland and Japan this number is even growing 10% each year [2]! Because mortality risks for very old persons do not change significantly, the number of centenarians is determined mainly by the growth of potential centenarians, i.e. people who are currently in their eighties and nineties. A forecast calculation shows that the increase in the amount of centenarians is likely to continue over the next decades and will grow considerably from 2046. The first baby boomers will reach the age of 100 in 1 Corresponding Author: Johan Molenbroek, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Landbergstraat 15, 2628 CE Delft; Email: [email protected] 8 J.F.M. Molenbroek et al. / Design for All: Not Excluded by Design that year. For example The Netherlands are anticipated to have nearly 14 thousand centenarians by then [3]. Although more and more of the older people are longer fit -quite a few even climb to the top of the Mount Everest at the age of 70+ [4, 5, 6] – people surviving to the ages of 80 and 90 often are in a health situation that is very delicate. In the Netherlands at least 30% of the people aged 65+ has one or more disabilities and 50% of the people aged 90+ is demented [7]. Because of our modern healthcare people are surviving serious illnesses more often. While staying alive they often inherit one or more disabilities. It causes a growing need for services and products that can help them to maintain their quality of life and stay independently at home for as long as possible. In addition to the growing group of elderly and disabled people, currently another population is calling for attention and rises in number and severity; obese people. In many western countries almost 50% of the people are overweight. They too need products and services that are better equipped to their needs (think about for example toilet seats and supports for heavy people). In short one can conclude that the European population now more than ever is in great need for products and services ‘Designed for All’. 1.2. History of Design for All The term Design for All (DfA) was first embraced and perhaps even initiated by the European Institute for Design for Disabled (EIDD). Soon after its establishment in 1993, the EIDD developed the mission statement: “Enhancing the quality of life through Design for All”. Design for All refers to “design for human diversity, social inclusion and equality” [8]. The practice of Design for All makes conscious use of the analysis of human needs and aspirations and requires the involvement of end users at every stage in the design process [9]. Or as put on the EDeAN Design for All Education and Training website [10]: “Design for All is a process whereby designers, manufacturers and service providers ensure that their products and environments address users irrespective of their age or ability. It aims to include the needs of people who are currently excluded or marginalised by mainstream design practices and links directly to the concept of an inclusive society. A key feature of design for all is the emphasis placed on working with user groups representing the true diversity of users as a route to innovation and new product development.” The Design for All philosophy developed in Scandinavia, as a logical continuation of that region’s ‘Society for All’ concept, and gradually spread through Europe [11]. Two European networks have greatly helped to promote and develop the Design for All philosophy [12]: EIDD - Design for All Europe. In 2006 the EIDD renamed itself into ‘EIDD Design for All Europe’ and is currently a federation of 22 national en corporate design organisations [8]. Its aim is to encourage active interaction and communication between professionals interested in the theory and practise of Design for All and to build the bridges to J.F.M. Molenbroek et al. / Design for All: Not Excluded by Design 9 other communities where Design for All can make a difference to the quality of life for everyone. EDeAN - The European Design for All eAccessibility Network. EDeAN was launched under the lead of the European Commission and the European Member States in 2002 to promote e-Inclusion; creating an information society for all. It now is a network of 160 organisations in European Union member states and its goal is to support all citizens’access to the Information Society [13]. In 2004, after ten years as the European platform on Design for All, the EIDD issued their Design for All Declaration (Stockholm Declaration 2004 [9]). In this document an appeal is made to the European institutions, national, regional and local governments and professionals, businesses and social actors to take all appropriate measures to implement Design for All in their policies and actions. 1.3. Diversity of Terminology Comparable concepts have developed in parallel in other parts of the world. In the USA and Japan Design for All is called Universal Design. In the UK the term Inclusive Design has gained ground. Another term used, primarily in Japan and non-English speaking countries, is Barrier-free Design. It is mainly used in the field of architecture, and refers to modifying buildings or facilities so that they can be used by the physically disadvantaged or disabled. In the case of new buildings, however, the idea of barrier free modification has largely been superseded by the concept of Universal Design, which seeks to design things from the outset to support easy access [12]. In the USA Universal Design is effectively promoted by the University of South Carolina with its Centre of Universal Design [14], as well as enforced by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental activities [15]. An example of the success of this approach can be seen in public transport. While in Europe the numbers of people using public transport are much higher, it is rarely accessible for wheelchair users. In the USA though, all public transport is made accessible for wheelchair users. Industry in Japan is also enforced to implement Universal Design, through standards (Japanese Industrial Standard X8341 (Caring) Series) and the Law for Facilitating Mobility of Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities. This law integrates and enhances the Barrier-Free Transport Law (established in 2000) which promotes the creation of barrier-free environments focusing on facilities used by travellers such as public transportation organizations, and the Heartful Building Law (established in 1994) which promotes the creation of barrier-free buildings [16]. In Japan a mixture of legislative push and market pull has made industry heightened aware of the principles of Universal Design [17]. Japanese companies have embraced the inclusive agenda and its challenges, resulting in the availability of many ‘universally designed’ products on the market. In the UK the term Inclusive Design has been favoured and it is successfully propagated by the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art with ‘Include’, a biennial international conference that focuses on issues central to inclusive and people- centred design [18]. 10 J.F.M. Molenbroek et al. / Design for All: Not Excluded by Design 2.
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