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Spring 2009Your source for current news and announcements about the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA Center) in Buffalo, NY.
MS Word Format | Adobe PDF Format In this issue:The IDeA Center Unveils New Website IDeA Center Offers Continuing Education Courses IDeA Center/RERC-UD Staff’s Winter Conference Presentations Two Opportunities to Participate in Survey Research Update on Federal Inclusive Home Design Act The IDeA Center Unveils New Website
The UD E-World website was developed using a flexible management system that can easily be updated and enhanced through the use of extensions created by the open source community. For example, message boards, commenting, polls, interactive maps, accessibility features such as a screen synthesizer, and font changer are all powerful online applications which have been incorporated to meet the needs of a growing online community and provide more accessibility and usability. We hope the new website will allow users to more easily learn about our various projects, obtain publications, and communicate with each other in an effort to increase the implementation of universal design. The Newly Announced RERC on Accessible Public Transportation (RERC-APT) Continues to Garner Attention
The following are links to some publications and broadcasts that picked up the story:
Stay tuned for updates on the RERC-APT activities that are now underway, as well as a newly designed website! IDeA Center Offers Continuing Education CoursesThe IDeA Center is now enrolling students in two new online continuing education courses: Core Courses I and Core Courses II. Core Courses I contains material on The Nature of Barriers and The New Demographics. Core Courses II contains more detailed information on universal design, its principles, and various applications. Each four week online course costs $250 and can earn you 15 AIA Learning Units or 1.5 CEUs. Registration for both courses will be open on April 6, 2009 and will remain open until May 15, 2009. The online courses will run from June 8, 2009 - July 6, 2009. The continuing education program is designed for anyone (e.g., advocates, builders/contractors, planners, architects, occupational and physical therapists, and policymakers) interested in learning about the universal design of places, products, and systems with a particular focus on the implications of a life span perspective. In keeping with the concept of human centered design, the courses are designed to have an extensive participatory and discussion element. For more information about the curriculum, please click here. To register, please click here (After April 6, 2009) If you have any questions about the courses or registration, please email Jordana Maisel at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call her at 716.829.3485 x329. IDeA Center/RERC-UD Staff’s Winter Conference Presentations
Two Opportunities to Participate in Survey ResearchMEASURING DESIGN EFFECTIVENESS
R1: Built Environment Research Project Update Invitation to Participate in Our New Online Surveys! A research team directed by Dr. Gary Scott Danford at the IDeA Center’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Universal Design and the Built Environment is currently conducting an online study of built environments' influences on the performance of routine activities in three settings: Public Buildings, Public Streets and Residential Environments. In a recently completed round of Problematic Activities Surveys, over 600 survey participants identified the activities that pose the greatest problems for them in each of these three settings. In this new round of Design Effectiveness Surveys, participants will be given the opportunity to evaluate how effective various designs are in resolving these problems.
In appreciation for completing this new round of online surveys, participants will again be eligible for a random drawing to win one of three $100 prizes. Individuals who participate in all three Design Effectiveness Surveys will be eligible for a random drawing to win a $500 grand prize. To participate, go to the Built Environment homepage and follow the instructions. If you belong to other forums or listservs, or know of anyone else who might be interested in participating, please feel free to share this invitation with them. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Michael Grimble, Project Coordinator, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This study is being conducted by the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA Center) through its Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Universal Design and the Built Environment (RERC-UD) with funding provided by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). MOVING VERTICALLY  The Moving Vertically Research Project is an online study about the perceptions and experiences of ramps, lifts, elevators, and escalators in public buildings. The intention of this study is to better understand how these different building parts affect social integration and discrimination. Social integration is being evaluated in three dimensions; physical, verbal, and visual. Everybody is welcome to participate regardless of physical or cognitive ability. However this study is especially interested in the perceptions and experiences of people who have physical disabilities affecting their mobility. Upcoming PublicationsThe IDeA Center is happy to announce that efforts are underway to produce two new publications that should be available fall 2009. Inclusive Housing: A Pattern Book (W.W. Norton & Co.) is a resource for designing communities to accommodate social diversity and provide equitable opportunities for all residents, or, inclusive design. It focuses on design of housing to provide accessibility to people with disabilities and, at the same time, provide benefits to all residents. The book emerged out of a lengthy discussion within the Congress of New Urbanism about accessible housing design in the urban context. This discussion identified the need for information that would help incorporate accessibility for people with disabilities into neighborhood and housing design practices without compromising other important design goals. A brief complimentary booklet, Visitability: An Inclusive Design Approach for Housing, is now available on our website. It provides a summary of the forthcoming book. Focusing on visitability, the book excerpts and an annotated version of the new ANSI Type C visitability standards, gives you a better understanding of what visitability is and why it is important to housing design. The State of the Science: Emerging Research and Developments in Universal Design (Bentham Sciences Publishers Ltd.) will contain the latest research related to universal design that was presented at the RERC-UD’s State of the Science events throughout the past year. The publication will also emphasize the growing need for evidence based practice in the field. It will also identify and prioritize future research needs. Stay tuned for more information on these publications… Update on Federal Inclusive Home Design ActPress release from office of Representative Jan Schakowsky follows: ------------------------------------------- HOUSING BILL HR 1408 OFFERS ACCESSIBILITY FOR DISABLED Schakowsky Legislation Seeks "Fairness" and "Common Sense" for Mobility-Impaired WASHINGTON, DC (March 10, 2009) – People with mobility impairments have limited access to most homes constructed with federal assistance because there are currently no federal standards for accessibility features that these homes must include. However, new legislation introduced today by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, the Inclusive Home Design Act (HR 1408) would greatly increase the number of homes that are accessible for people with disabilities. "Universal standards for homes built with federal money are long past due," said Rep. Schakowsky. "Implementing accessible features when homes are built is a simple matter of fairness, cost effectiveness, and common sense." Currently, 95 percent of new single-family homes and townhouses built with federal assistance fail to include any features that make it possible for people with mobility impairments to live in or visit the homes. The Inclusive Home Design Act, authored by Rep. Schakowsky, aims to increase the residence and accessibility options available to mobility-impaired individuals by employing "visitability" standards. The principles of visitability and inclusive home design seek to create homes that are affordable, sustainable, and utilize a design approach that integrates accessibility features into newly-built homes. Inclusive standards and incentives have been adopted by at least 44 towns and states, including Chicago, Naperville, and Urbana, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Vermont; Texas; and Kansas. Bolingbrook, IL and Pima County, Arizona have the two most successful laws, requiring that every home built be based on inclusive design. Respectively, over 4,000 and 11,000 homes have been built under their standards with more homes added every day. This legislation builds on that momentum. Specifically, the Inclusive Home Design Act would require that all newly-built single-family homes and townhouses receiving federal funds meet four specific standards:
The legislation applies to new construction, not renovations of existing homes. The average added cost per home for the required features run from $98 (for homes built on a concrete slab) to $573 (for homes with a basement or crawl space); however, retrofitting a home can cost several thousand dollars. In multi-story homes, the requirements apply only to the main floor. Residents who develop disabilities or face age-related mobility problems often face expensive renovations at their own cost or public cost. More often, when renovations are unfeasible, residents live in unsafe conditions or are displaced from their homes into nursing homes. Additionally, disabled people – from children to the elderly and their families – can become socially isolated because architectural barriers in homes prevent them from visiting their friends, neighbors and extended family. "It makes no sense to build new homes that block people out when it's incredibly easy and cost effective to build new homes that let people in," said Rep. Schakowsky. "We have the ability to increase mobility and improve quality of life for America's disabled; failure to act is a moral crime." Original Co-Sponsors to the bill include: Sam Farr, Madeleine Bordallo, Jim McGovern, Luis Gutierrez, and Mark Kirk. Also, the legislation is supported by the following 23 groups: Concrete Change, Access Living, ADAPT, American Association of People with Disabilities, American Association on Mental Retardation, American Council of the Blind, American Network of Community Options and Resources, Access to Independence, ARISE, Brain Injury Association of the United States, Congress for the New Urbanism, Disabilities Rights Action Coalition, Easter Seals, Living Independence Network Corporation, Making Choices for Independent Living, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems, National Association of the Councils on Developmental Disabilities, National Council on Independent Living, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Paralyzed Veterans of America, The Arc of the United States, and United Cerebral Palsy. Universal Design Newsletter
IDeA e-newsletter ArchiveAccess previous news in the IDeA Center's E-Newsletter archive. |
The IDeA Center is happy to announce that its newly redesigned website is now up and running. Content is now divided into two separate websites: the IDeA Center and Universal Design E-World (UD E-World). The IDeA Center site provides a brief overview of what we do, while UD E-World serves as a participatory environment with web based tools to support collaborative activities in universal design. All of our ongoing research, development projects and publications can be found on UD E-World.
After the Robotic’s Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and the IDeA Center at SUNY Buffalo issued press releases announcing that they were awarded the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Accessible Public Transportation (RERC-APT), funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), many other outlets picked up the story. Co-directed by Aaron Steinfeld (RI) and Edward Steinfeld (IDeA Center), the RERC-APT will establish an effective and sustainable process to address high priority transportation needs of people with disabilities using enabling technology and universal design.
Please follow the link below to the latest issue of Universal Design Newsletter, published by Universal Designers and Consultants.