Page 479 - Biomedical Engineering and Design Handbook Volume 2, Applications

CHAPTER 16

APPLIED UNIVERSAL DESIGN

Ronald S. Adrezin
United States Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut

16.1 MOTIVATION 457 16.5 WHAT’S NEXT? 478
16.2 DESIGN METHODOLOGY 458 REFERENCES 478
16.3 SPECIAL TOPICS 473
16.4 DESIGN FOR UNDERDEVELOPED
REGIONS 477

16.1 MOTIVATION

Engineers are expert problem solvers. They love challenges and regularly handle the stress and
excitement of balancing cost with safety and reliability. However, many wonderful devices on the
market were not designed by engineers. So what makes engineers so valuable? They can apply their
skills across industries. An engineer can safely strip every ounce out of a weight-critical design. And
when a problem is properly defined, an engineer can solve it in a cost-effective manner.
Designing a product that is accessible to persons with disabilities will increase your market share
and produce a better product for all. If this accessibility is designed into the product, there is a neg-
ligible effect on the price. This is the heart of what we call universal design. By applying one’s cre-
ativity, countless products can be manufactured that do not neglect people below the fifth or above
the ninety-fifth percentiles. These individuals may be found among your family, friends, neighbors,
and colleagues. Do not exclude them!
It is my sincere hope that this chapter will assist you in designing for persons with disabilities. The
consumers of these products have been divided into three broad categories. The first includes custom
devices designed for a sole user. Here, the design team knows the needs, desires, and anthropometrics of
the final user, who is generally part of the team. A second category covers devices to be marketed to per-
sons with a common disability. Examples include hearing aids, wheelchairs, and environmental control
units. Their design may include the ability to be customized by the end user. The last category describes
products to be used by the general population. These mass-produced devices include television remote
controls, appliances, toys, and computers. Whether for a sole user, a group of persons with a common dis-
ability, or a mass-produced product where universal design principles are applied, I have attempted to pro-
vide engineers with a practical starting point. This chapter stresses new designs of devices for persons with
disabilities. It is not focused on the selection or customization of existing assistive devices.
Engineers sometimes forget the importance of form while focusing on function. Persons with dis-
abilities are often subjected to stares and the stigmas attached to the use of many assistive devices.
In the design process, therefore, you must consider the aesthetics of the device. There is often an
assumption that everyone loves technology as much as engineers. For instance, there was a time when
many counselors would push a person with a spinal chord injury into the field of computer program-
ming. Yes, the interface to the computer was available but not necessarily the person’s interest. Can
everyone in the general population become a programmer? So why should everyone with a disability?

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