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Image-in is specilized in the creation of Internet web sites accessible to all kind of handicapped people, like blind and visual impaired.
Inclusive design : Products for all consumers
By David Yelding, Director of Ricability Board Member of the UK
Institute for Inclusive Design
and
Lindsey Etchell's, Ricability's
Principal Researcher
Some minority !
Estimates of the prevalence of disability have been difficult to come by because
of the problems of devising an acceptable definition, and the practical problems
of surveying the whole population. The first has been addressed by the World
Health Organisation, which distinguishes between impairment, handicap and
disability. The most recent large scale survey of disability in Britain was
published in 1999. It showed that over eight and a half million people - 20 %
of the population - had a disability.
Future challenges
There is a concern that technological advances could
leave behind people with disabilities. Rudolf Brynn (of the Norwegian National
Resource Centre for Participation and Accessibility) points out that products
which specifically address the needs of disabled people will disappear if they
are not compatible with electronic commerce. Smart cards are the key to the
information society, increasingly being used in transport, banking,
communication and health fields. It follows that card reading machines and
public access facilities must be accessible, particularly for people with visual
impairment and those with confusion or learning disabilities, if these groups
are not to be permanently excluded from a whole range of
activities.
Research carried out for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found
that disabled people using assistive devices found fewer websites that were easy
to use and navigate than people not using these devices. Similarly, research
commissioned by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) evaluated 1,000
representative websites and found that 81 % were inaccessible to many disabled
people. In this journal last year Professor Alan Newell stated that digital TV
'appears to be designed by and for young, dextrous technophiles'.
Achieving changeInclusive design is an idea whose time has come. In
future the term will become redundant should design be inclusive as a matter of
course. The various stakeholders can help the process along in different
ways.
ConsumersConsumer demand for inclusive design has yet to be felt in the
marketplace. Older and disabled people have the most critical needs from a
product, but they are not the most demanding consumers. Traditionally older
people have tended to blame themselves rather than poor design for the
difficulties they experience with domestic products every day ('what can you
expect at my age ?'). On the other hand, changes to the size and nature of the
population are coupled with its collective psychology. New generations of older
people will have spent their formative years in a consumer oriented society, and
their expectations will be different from their predecessors. They are unlikely
to tolerate products that do not meet their needs and will be more vociferous in
their demands.
Older people should be encouraged to be more assertive in
making their requirements known. The University of the Third Age (U3A) has
member groups in over 200 towns and cities in the UK, some of whom work
collaboratively with graduates at the Royal College of Art in London on
designing accessible products. The American Association of Retired Persons is
the largest American advocacy group of older people. Orchestrated demands from
such groups are difficult for manufacturers to ignore. Consumers can make a
difference, particularly when they organise themselves and are ready to be
involved and to participate in manufacturer's research and development
programmes.
All consumers will benefit when products are designed to
address their needs whatever their abilities.
- Inclusive design leads to
increased and prolonged independence for older people.
- There will be a
delay and a reduction in the need for adaptations and assistive
products.
- Older and disabled people will have a wider choice of
accessible and usable products.
- Through the economies of scale,
mainstream products are generally lower priced than low volume specialist
equipment.
- Products that can be used by older and disabled people are
easier to use for nearly everyone else - more comfortable to use and requiring
less effort.
Consumer organisationsThese exist across Europe to empower people to
make informed consumer choices and decisions. They provide independent,
research-based, reliable information and have a thorough understanding of
consumer need. However, although consumer magazines regularly report on the
usability, as well as the performance, of products, relatively few carry out
assessments which consider the needs of consumers with disabilities. Apart from
Ricability, other notable exceptions are Konsumentverket in Sweden, Institut
National de la Consommation in France, Which ? in the UK and recently
Verbruikersunie in Belgium. These more critical assessments consistently show
greater brand differences than the standard convenience assessments that relate
only to non-disabled people. There have been improvements in the performance of
domestic appliances ; it is now time for usability to become a more important
factor in choice of product.
Consumer organisations influence both
consumers and industry with their comparative test reports. They should also
work constructively with manufacturers to improve product design and help them
to consult with potential older and disabled customers.
More
comprehensive programmes of product evaluations need to be carried out in the UK
and in Europe, both to provide consumers with information they need in order to
be able to choose, and to encourage manufacturers to provide, inclusively
designed products. The results of this research need to be distributed widely to
create greater consumer demand for accessible products.
Design collegesThe number of postgraduate courses in design colleges is
increasing, after pioneering work by the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the
Royal College of Art (RCA) and Central Saint Martins School of Art. The Royal
Society of Arts New Design for All Competition has been in existence for over 15
years and has had a profound effect on young designers. These are important
developments because they engage the interest of young designers and the
community in general. Competitions along these lines need to be encouraged and
funded.
Designers should be provided with the information and expertise
they need to put inclusive design principles into practice. Some progress has
already been made. For example, academic and design firms are developing new
theories and practices about involving a greater range of consumers in product
development. The EPSRC funded project I-design has developed and disseminated
tools and guidance for design managers. Design Aid, produced by Central St
Martins College of Ability and Design, is a tool based on interviews with 600
disabled people and provides insights into the lifestyles, attitudes and
aspirations of different groups of disabled people. The RCA run an annual
competition aimed at encouraging designers to produce prototypes of inclusively
designed products. Examples of this approach can be seen in Building Sight,
guidance produced by the Royal National Institute of the Blind, and in a
Transport and Road Research Laboratory investigation of vehicle design. The
Design Council has proposed that such information should be collected and
collated so that it is available in a consolidated form from a single
source.
We consider that all undergraduate courses in industrial design
should include ergonomics and inclusive design principles in their core
curriculum ; currently very few do. The courses need to :
- emphasise the
value of and provide user involvement in product design,
- provide a real
understanding of the diversity of consumer capabilities,
- encourage and
facilitate the use of a wide range of existing research,
- provide a
network of associates from different disciplines, such as ergonomists and
engineers,
- promote a culture of designing products that are easy to use
by the majority of consumers as well as being attractive and
desirable.
In addition, teaching materials to support the teaching of
inclusive design need to be developed for supply to design colleges and for
inclusion in design and business management courses.
There are no
statistics on the number of designers with disabilities in the UK, although the
number is thought to be low. Design colleges need to take active steps to
encourage disabled people to train as designers. This would raise the disability
awareness of both colleges and designers.
ManufacturersSome manufacturers have taken the principles of inclusive
design to heart and the number of case studies and examples of good design are
increasing. These range from the simple (easy grip kitchen implements, electric
plugs with a holdable handle, big button telephone) to the complex (the TRXII
taxi, which has a ramp, interim step, induction loop, light-to-operate
illuminated door handles). FIAT saw inclusive design as a cultural change which
completely revolutionised the way they considered the design of vehicles from
the outset.
However as Ricability's product assessments have
consistently demonstrated, many manufacturers still need convincing. The
commercial arguments for inclusive design are mostly based on the fact that the
population is getting older - but there are other factors.
- Demography
certainly show that this is a vast not a marginal market.
- Inclusive
design can be built in from the start of product conception at no or negligible
cost ; it is retrospective provision or adaptation that is expensive.
-
Inclusive design does not mean designing for absolutely everyone but for as many
people as possible.
- It does not strangle innovation - in fact industry
will need to develop innovative solutions to make their products usable by more
consumers.
- A redirection of thought is required, not of
budget.
People need to be at the centre of the product development
process. Manufacturers should involve and consult with representatives of
disability organisations and other consumer groups to ensure awareness of user
characteristics and needs. Disability, consumer and other organisations should
provide practical help to make it easy for manufacturers to consult with their
potential older and disabled customers. They need funding to be able to do this.
In addition designers in industry require clear practical guidance in
strictly practical terms, with optimal and acceptable ranges for particular and
commonly found features of major products, such as switches or rotary controls.
That said, the approach is to go further than minimum technical specifications
to seek creative design solutions.
It will be easier to get inclusive
design on the agenda if business schools educate the future strategic planners
on the business case.
- The DRC points out that there are 8.5 million
disabled people in Britain with a combined annual spending power of £40 billion,
and that people aged over 50 have a combined annual income in excess of £160
billion.
- Inclusive design is marketable to a wider audience.
-
Companies that consider the needs of older and disabled people open up new
market opportunities.
- Excluding potential purchasers is clearly bad
business.
LegislationNationally we have the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act.
This is the first piece of civil rights legislation in the UK that has given
disabled people legally enforceable rights. Since October this year, subject to
tests of reasonableness, all physical barriers have had to be removed from
buildings ; generally providers of goods and services of all kinds cannot
provide inferior services to disabled people. It applies to management and
operational issues, such as how a service is provided, and policy and practices.
However the Act does not cover product design.
This is because of the
complexities of drafting a workable law which would take account of the
diversity of impairments and the range of products it would need to cover.
However there is comparable safety legislation. This comprises a general
requirement for products to be safe, but since the way this is achieved varies
between product types, the legislation is backed up by product-specific laws and
standards. Legislation on inclusive design could be supported in the same
way.
Another route to legislation is through Europe. The EU has several
anti-discrimination initiatives. For example, the General Product Safety
Directive (2001/95/EC) aims to ensure that products are safe for all consumers,
including older and disabled people, by means of risk assessment evaluation.
Similarly the Low Voltage Directive (1973/23/EEC) states that electrical
equipment can be marketed only if it does not endanger people's safety, although
consumer organisations are currently trying to have clauses that exclude the
safety of disabled people removed from the standards that support the Directive.
The Electronic Communications Framework Directive (2002/21/EC) contains several
provisions on the obligation of national authorities to ensure that users,
including disabled people, derive maximum benefit in terms of choice, price and
quality. The Universal Service and Users Rights Directive (2002/22/EC) contains
several provisions on access to universal telecom services for people with
disabilities.
A significant recent development is the issue of the Public
Procurement Directive (2004/18/EC), Article 23 of which encourages public
authorities to take into account inclusive design requirements in public
contracts awards whenever possible. The EC's DG Enterprise and the US Department
of Commerce have launched a US-EU collaboration in the field of information
technology standardisation relating to regulation. There is an American law -
Section 508 - on Public Procurement of ICT products which requires all ICT
procured, developed and maintained by US government agencies to be accessible to
people with disabilities. Section 508 provides benchmarks and places the
responsibility of reaching them on industry. As a result American industry
associations have helped to develop the necessary technical specifications and
standards. This model could bring great benefits to European consumers if
followed here.
StandardsThere is also inclusive design activity within national,
European and international standardisation. Product standards cover performance,
conformity and safety but the majority are voluntary rather than mandatory.
Nevertheless manufacturers of consumer products build to them across the world,
so standardisation that encourages inclusive design is likely to result in
improvements. To date few product standards have addressed the needs of older
and disabled consumers - indeed as mentioned above too many specifically exclude
their needs. This situation should now change with the development and
publication of guidance for standards developers on addressing the needs of
older and disabled people in standardisation. These awareness raising and
informative guidelines have been published by both the international and
European standards bodies. This is a significant step forward, not least because
inclusive design issues can be flagged up in all future discussion on new and
revised international and European standards.
At British, European and
international levels, standardisation bodies have set up horizontal working
groups to oversee standards work that specifically relate to disability issues.
In addition there are relevant standards, such as CEN EN 81-70:2003 on
accessible lifts, and working groups developing and revising standards,
particularly in the field of accessible ICT, such as CEN TC224 on
machine-readable cards. Of particular interest is the draft BS 7000 on design
management, which applies to business practice and if followed will make
inclusiveness good practice in industry.
Consumer organisations and
representatives are aware of their responsibility to represent consumers of all
abilities and to encourage the standards committees to address the diversity of
their needs. Disabled people and disability organisations should take all
opportunity to participate in the development of standards.
ConclusionDesigns that exclude people are fast becoming unacceptable to
most consumers. In addition to the social case, a convincing business case can
be made for designs which meet the needs of a greater proportion of the
population. The inclusive design movement has gained considerable momentum in
recent years. Conferences on the subject occur at frequent intervals. More and
more designers are finding that an understanding of how previously marginalised
people use their products provides an impetus for sometimes revolutionary
improvement. Academic institutes are providing a theoretical and practical basis
for research and development based on closer contact with consumers. Some
businesses can give examples of spectacularly successful initiatives, where
attractive and easily usable products have led to marketing success. The time
has surely come for manufacturers to respond to the challenge of inclusive
design in the knowledge of increased market potential. So this is only the
beginning of the cultural change needed. We all have a part to play in bringing
this about - governments, businesses, the design community and consumers. Watch
this space.
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