What is Universal Design?

Universal Design is a design approach that seeks to create environments, objects, and systems that can be used by as many people as possible. To this end, Universal Design is the process of embedding choice for all people in the things we design.

• Choice involves flexibility, and multiple alternative means of use and/or interface.
• People includes the full range of people regardless of age, ability, sex, economic status, etc.
• Things include spaces, products, information systems and any other things that humans manipulate or create.

Universal Design is a user-centered process that evolves as designers and users broaden their own understanding, perspectives and experience by working with the range of users in a variety of environments. The more you know about the subject, the more you realize there is to learn about it. As such, Universal Design is like the horizon; it recedes as you move towards it. Universal Designing is a lifelong learning opportunity and process.  We become better Universal Designers as we learn more about people and the choices they may wish to exercise as they interact with the environments in which they operate. Because of this, no one knows it all. We can all learn from each other about how to better design things for all people. In this lifelong learning sense, we are all students of Universal Design.

The term "Universal Design" has evolved from "Barrier Free Design", "Accessible Design", "Transgenerational Design", and "Adaptable Design". It is now considered to be synonymous with "Design for All" and "Inclusive Design."

Several institutions and individuals have contributed to the definition and advancement of the movement:

• According to the RL Mace Universal Design Institute, and its namesake, Ronald L. Mace, FAIA, "Universal Design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design."  The intent of universal design is to simplify life for everyone by making products, communications and the built environment more usable by as many people as possible at little or no extra cost. Universal Design benefits people of all ages and abilities.   In 1997 Ron Mace collaborated with a group of architects, product designers, engineers and environmental designers to propose the Seven Principles of Universal Design. The principles guide a wide range of design disciplines, including environments, products, and communications. They can be applied to evaluate existing designs, guide the design process, and educate both designers and consumers about the existing characteristics of more usable products and environments.
• According to the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA Center) at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, "Universal Design makes things more accessible, safer, and convenient for everyone....[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."
• According to the Institute for Human Centered Design, "Universal Design is a framework for the design of places, things, information, communication and policy to be usable by the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. Most simply, Universal Design is human-centered design of everything with everyone in mind."
• The Global Universal Design Commission, a not-for-profit corporation established to increase understanding and use of Universal Design, is currently drafting a set of voluntary standards that can be adopted to incorporate Universal Design principles into the design of buildings, products, facilities management, and business practices. The Universal Design Standards are intended to complement existing accessibility, life safety, and building code standards.

The breadth of discussion surrounding the term extends to the international sphere as well:

• Jamshedji Tata-NID Universal Design Research Chair at India's National Institute of Design (NID) Abir Mullick, along with a team of professionals in the field, produced the