Write an essay on some contemporary design issues that have a relationship to universal design. Explain the relationship between Universal Design and these other contemporary design issues using examples.
Please limit your assignment to 500 words maximum and upload your assignment as a PDF or Word document. See our Assignment Guidelines for grading criteria and tips.
Recommended: Upload your assignment within the second week of this course.
The textbook lists several critiques of the Principles of Universal Design. Select one of those criticisms and explain how the authors address that critique.
Please limit your assignment to 500 words maximum and upload your assignment as a PDF or Word document. See our Assignment Guidelines for grading criteria and tips.
Recommended: Upload your assignment within the first ten days of this course.
Upload a short essay that explains the origins of universal design and the difference between universal design and accessible design.
Please limit your assignment to 500 words maximum. See our Assignment Guidelines for grading criteria and tips.
Recommended: Upload your assignment within the second week of this course.
Use this Universal Design Checklist to evaluate a local place of public accommodation. You may use the same place as in the case study project if you desire, provided that you currently have access to the building. The checklist is divided into sections. Some buildings may not have a particular section of the checklist. It is also possible that security control points could limit your ability to complete a section. This is okay because the score calculation accounts for this. While you may select any public building you wish, keep in mind that the prominence of lawsuits in addition to security concerns may make some buildings more difficult to evaluate as the staff may raise questions about your intentions (such as small private stores, hotels, schools, and airports). It may be easier to select a building that will be more convenient to evaluate such as a public library, where most citizens have a general right to access, or a shopping mall, where loitering is tolerated as it is generally indistinguishable from shopping.
Note that the checklist often is predicated on the code, or how an item exceeds code. We do not expect you to know the code. Simply use your best judgment based on the information provided in the checklist and your previous experience. You should not need a tape measure or any other tool; this is a general assessment only and it should be completed relatively quickly. Use your knowledge of code to provide your best estimate. We’re not looking for accuracy. We’re looking to see that you can think critically about universal design in a real-world situation.
When you have finished your evaluation, upload your “calculation steps” and a short essay on why the place you evaluated scored as it did. Please indicate the name of the place evaluated, and the date and time of evaluation.
Please limit your assignment to 500 words maximum and upload your assignment as a PDF or Word document. See our Assignment Guidelines for grading criteria and tips.
Recommended: Upload your assignment within the final week of this course.
Law and Vanderheiden proposed a set of usability screening tests that simulate disability so that designers can obtain preliminary information about product accessibility for end users with sensory, physical, and cognitive limitations (See Unit 1 Reading 3). The intent was to help designers identify and correct the most obvious design problems before conducting tests with participants who have disabilities. The authors’ priorities for development of these screening tests included:
1. The protocols must be simple enough that designers can administer the tests on themselves or colleagues
2. Implementation of the tests must be low cost and reasonably easy
3. Simulation of functional limitations must be effective enough that obvious design mismatches are screened out and solved.
For this project, you will simulate a disability using one of the six methods below. Describe the product you attempted to use. List and describe any problems you encounter, and propose brief solutions that would have helped you overcome many those barriers. For all of these scenarios, refrain from doing anything dangerous (i.e. do not attempt to navigate stairs or street crossings with low vision). If you already have a disability, simulate an additional one.
1. No Vision: Wear a blindfold. Have a friend or family member give you a product (preferably one you are unfamiliar with). Attempt to use the product. (For example, you could try to use a CD player.)
2. Low Vision: Wear glasses with petroleum jelly (e.g. Vasoline) smeared on the outside, or, use someone else’s glasses who has far different visual abilities than yourself. Attempt to use a piece of common household equipment (do not study the equipment first). (For example, you could attempt doing laundry.)
3. Obscured Hearing: Use earplugs, or, turn off the volume on the product you are using. Attempt to use a product that conveys information audibly and visually. (For example, you could attempt to watch a 24-hour news program on a TV you are unfamiliar with and attempt to find the closed captioning).
4. One Hand: Place your dominant hand in your pocket. Attempt a common household task. (For example, you could try brushing your teeth or making and eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich).
5. One Finger: Tie all but your index finger together and place the other hand in your pocket. Attempt a common household task. (For example, you could try getting dressed.)
6. Low Manipulation: Wear thick winter gloves or oven mittens on both hands. Attempt to use a common household device. (For example, you could try using a remote control or telephone, or opening a bottle of medication).
Please limit your assignment to 500 words maximum and upload your assignment as a PDF or Word document. See our Assignment Guidelines for grading criteria and tips.
Recommended: Upload your assignment within the third week of this course.
Norman, D. “User-Centered Design”, in The Design of Everyday Things, New York: Doubleday, 1988, pp. 187-217.
Recommended: Complete these readings and associated test within the final week of this course.
Recommended: Complete this reading and associated test within the second week of this course.
Upload a short essay that describes at least three design guidelines to support social participation.
Please limit your assignment to 500 words maximum and upload your assignment as a PDF or Word document. See our Assignment Guidelines for grading criteria and tips.
Recommended: Upload your assignment within the final week of this course.
The following are supplemental readings. The readings are not required and there will be no test questions on their contents.
The following 2 supplemental readings are from a Human Factors conference session on usability testing, specifically on people with disabilities. They correspond with reading 3. They are very technical in nature and are not required for completion of the course. There will be no test questions on supplemental readings.
Coyne, K. P. (2006). Conducting Simple Usability Studies with Users with Disabilities. HCI International Conference, Las Vegas, NV. 22-27 July 2006. Special Session: Usability Testing of People with Disabilities. (7 pages)
Law, C. M.; Sears, A.; & Price, K. J. (2006). Issues in the Categorization of Disabilities for User Testing. HCI International Conference, Las Vegas, NV. 22-27 July 2006. Special Session: Usability Testing of People with Disabilities. (10 pages)
Law, C. M.; & Vanderheiden, G. C. (2000). Reducing Sample Sizes when User Testing with People Who Have, and Who are Simulating Disabilities – Experiences with Blindness and Public Information Kiosks. Proceedings of the IEA 2000 / HFES 2000 Congress. p. 4-157 – 4-160. (4 pages)
Law, C. M.; & Vanderheiden, G. C. (1999). Tests for Screening Product Designs Prior to User Testing by People with Functional Limitations. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 43rd Annual Meeting. p. 868 – 872. (5 pages)
Story, M. F. (2006). Focus Groups with Participants Who Have Disabilities. HCI International Conference, Las Vegas, NV. 22-27 July 2006. Special Session: Usability Testing of People with Disabilities. (6pages)
The second reading is a short article on the importance of the end user in design.
Ostroff, E. 1997. Mining Our Natural Resources: The User as Expert. Innovation: The Quarterly Journal of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA): 16(1).
Recommended: Complete these readings and associated test within the second week of this course.
