Learning Outcomes
Understand
- Inclusive Design makes it easy for as many people as possible to access products, services, and processes without modifications
- impairments can be both permanent and temporary
- Why assistive technology needs maker culture
Remember
- inclusive design
- assistive technology
- maker culture
- abilities linked to
- vision
- hearing
- thinking
- reach and dexterity
- mobility
Apply
- assess who is included and who is excluded by your designs
Inclusive Design
Inclusive Design is an approach to design that ensures artefacts, system, processes, and services can be used by the widest possible audience, no matter how old they are or what they can or cannot do. Inclusive design does not mean that everybody can use your product without modifications. Rather, it means that the number of people who need additional customisation, or who need a special purpose device to use it, is minimised.
For example, the font of this web site is large enough that people with properly adjusted vision can read it easily, and there is sufficient contrast. I do not provide the opportunity to further adjust font size – this would need to be done through a browser extension (customisation). However, given that all the pages are coded in very simple HTML, this is simple enough. For those who are almost blind, the web site is easy to parse using screen readers (special devices).
Source: Clarkson and Coleman, Figure 1.
The three levels of capability of the cube link to the abilities discussed in the Inclusive Design Toolkit as follows:
- sensory capability: vision and hearing. Note that the Toolkit does not mention touch and smell – touch is an important sense that is used for haptic interfaces
- motion capability: mobility, reach, dexterity. This is an aspect that is often overlooked by designers who work with apps.
- cognitive capability: thinking, reasoning, remembering – I would also include previous knowledge here.
Inclusive design is important, because people can be temporarily impaired along all three dimensions. For example, in winter, my vision can be impaired when my glasses fog up when entering a warm room, my dexterity can be impaired by thick gloves, and my cognitive capability can be impaired by being cold and exhausted from a long walk through the snow.
Assistive Technology
Assistive technology (definition) is used for devices and technologies that help people live an independent, fulfilling life. They support hearing, vision, mobility, dexterity, and communication, among other aspects.
Activity 1: What activities do the assistive devices by Hurst and Tobias (2011) support? To what extent can they be classified as “assistive”?
However, assistive technology is often not fit for purpose. The paper by Hurst and Tobias argues that the maker movement can help people and their carers build assistive technology that suits the particular needs and preferences of that user, which would increase adoption.
Activity 2: Search for assistive technology for people with mobility problems in the UK and in your home country. What do the tools (crutches / wheelchairs) look like? How much variety is there?
Alper (2013) outlines what needs to be done to integrate people with mixed abilities into maker culture. She defines culture for her purposes as the behaviours, values, and artifacts that those who identify as markers usually share. Note that she uses the term “Mixed abilities” – this recognises that some people may be disabled in one dimension, and yet fully able in another.
Activity 3: What other definitions of culture do you know? How do they relate to Alper’s maker culture?
A low floor means that people should not need extensive prior knowledge to start making. Ramps can be used to help people with disabilities, for whom even a low floor can be a hurdle, onto this floor. Ramps can be physical (helping people make things) or social (helping people people work with others).
A high ceiling means that people should be able to make interesting, sophisticated, beautiful things. Tall ladders provide additional assistance to climb these ceilings.
Wide walls can be extensively personalised. Some people, for example those on the autistic spectrum, might choose to explore narrow areas, while others can find a space on the wall that suits their unique abilities at a given time. For example, a person who has some residual vision might want to use it to paint, even though they might rely on a screenreader to read.
Activity 4: Look at the Studio. Where are ramps and tall ladders? Can you see any wide walls?
References
P. John Clarkson, Roger Coleman, History of Inclusive Design in the UK, In Applied Ergonomics, Volume 46, Part B, 2015, Pages 235-247, ISSN 0003-6870, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2013.03.002.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687013000410)