In short, universal design makes things more accessible, safer, and convenient for everyone. Also called “Design for All” or “Inclusive Design”, it is a philosophy that can be applied to policy, design and other practices to make products, environments and systems function better for a wider range of people. It developed in response to the diversity of human populations, their abilities and their needs. Examples of universal design include utensils with larger handles, curb ramps, automated doors, kneeling buses with telescoping ramps, houses with no-step entries, closed captioning in televisions, and the accessibility features incorporated into computer operating systems and software. Further information on universal design can be found in one of the areas of this site where experts are discussing and debating the Future of Universal Design.

Universal Design E-World provides web based tools to support the "community of practice" in universal design. Conventional web pages can be constructed to provide permanent reference documents and links to other resources on the World Wide Web. Message boards provide opportunities to communicate in threaded discussion. A wiki engine allows the construction of interactive web pages and collaboration in development of documents. On line surveys can be organized using an online survey research and polling tool. Blogging is available to document the activities of groups or projects. The activities supported by UD E-World can be public or restricted to specific groups like the participants of a research project, a temporary work group or a special interest group in a professional organization. To avoid abuse, we are only providing access to registered users, even in the public areas, and reserve the right to bar any user who does not comply with our Terms of Use.

UD E-World was developed and is supported by the Center on Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center), University at Buffalo, State University of New York. It was established initially to support the activities of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Universal Design and the Built Environment (RERCUD), a grant based at the IDEA Center and funded by for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. UD E-World was developed using open source software and has been designed to meet the guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative. See the Accessibility Page to learn more about these features.

There are many activities that can be supported by UD E-World. We have implemented several to support our ongoing needs and the public interest and we plan several more in the future. We invite suggestions and proposals from organizations, professionals, researchers, consumers and businesses to develop activities of interest to them or to suggest other activities that we can implement. Use the email link below to offer your suggestions or proposals. If an activity is consistent with the goals of the RERCUD, we may be able to support it. We will also entertain proposals to purchase space and support in order to develop new activities related to universal design.

We hope that UD E-World will serve as a focus for people interested in universal design around the world and speed the development of the community of practice in this field. We hope that, with our support, individuals and groups will take ownership of new areas and operate them for the benefit of the community at large, as well as, for their own needs. Comments, suggestions and proposals can be sent to idea@ap.buffalo.edu