Accessibility Is Not Inclusion
By Rains, Scott; New Mobility, pp. 36-37Publication Date: January 2011
Article compares the concepts of accessibility and inclusion as they affect environmental adaptations to accommodate users with disabilities. A playground design is used to illustrate the two concepts. While accessibility was advocated as a right borne out of the civil rights era, the author argues, inclusion is a goal envisioned where freedom of movement and full participation of all is considered a right. Where accessibility is passive, inclusion actively invites users; while the former is equated with compliance, the latter measures the impact of good design on traditionally overlooked community members. According to a source cited, the Institute for Human-Centered Design, inclusion is part of the concept of Universal Design, defined as 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. The author also points out that from a financial standpoint, inclusion as exemplified by Universal Design is more cost effective than accessibility, a concept that often involves adapting already existing areas such as playgrounds to accommodate users with disabilities.
Published by: No Limits Communications Inc. (Website:http://www.newmobility.com)
