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An ICTA Scientific Programme is to be held at the International Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa on Thursday 02
October 2003 from 14.30 to 18.00 which will form part of the RI African Conference with the theme
The Renaissance, African Disability from 01 - 03 October 2003'
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Abstract - for the talk given by Joan
Seirlis
In essence, universal design is about making buildings and their environments safe and convenient for all potential users, including persons with disabilities. The focus is not on providing special segregated facilities (ramps, lifts, etc) for physically disabled persons to enter and use the built environment, but rather seeking to provide an inclusive environment that considers the potential ability of all people through the creation of products and environments that everyone can use, regardless of age, physique and degree of disability. Universal design principles are not new, as evidenced by numerous facilities and equipment in general use nowadays (e.g. speaker telephones, rolling typist chairs, adjustable drawing boards, suitcases with wheels, e-mail, etc), that were originally designed decades ago as special equipment for disabled persons, but are convenient and efficient for all users today. It is argued that universal design is particularly important in the health sector because the medical ethos of caring leads to a focus on the disability, and changing the person to suit the environment, rather than striving to change the disabling environment through universal design. There are legal imperatives (the Constitution and the Employment Equity Act) as well as economic and ergonomic motivations (to allow access to more people and more efficient management and use of resources and staff, who may become temporarily impaired through injury) to employing universal design, at conception stage, to all buildings, including to the most modest. Inevitably it broadens the range of users and adds value to to any project. In any commercial project it makes sense to use these principles in order to increase the potential market of consumers and workers. South Africa in particular is dedicated to promoting a desgregated society, which is the base of an Inclusive Environment.
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