What is Universal Design?

Universal design is an approach to creating environments and products that recognizes the diversity of users, regardless of their ability or age. Universal design is a value, not a set of dimensional requirements. It challenges designers to think beyond code compliance and special features for specific users towards more inclusive solutions that incorporate the needs of diverse users without segregation or separate accommodation. Designing special solutions for different segments of the population is a costly and cumbersome way to design places and products.

Universal design as a concept has its roots in the disability movement and yet has relevance for many people who have experienced discrimination or exclusion by design. Many people who do not think of themselves as having a disability benefit daily from features developed to assist people with disabilities - the lever door handle and hand held showers, for example. And most people will have a disabling condition at some point in their lives. Universal design, however, is not a euphemism for accessibility. It is not a strategy for making compliance with the American with Disabilities Act more palatable. It is an idea that re-establishes a critical and fundamental goal of good design: meeting the needs of as many users as possible.