ABSTRACT
The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University has developed a set of seven Principles of Universal Design that may be used to guide the design process, to evaluate existing or new designs, and to teach students and practitioners. This article presents preceding design guidelines and evaluation criteria, describes the process of developing the Principles, lists The Principles of Universal Design and provides examples of designs that satisfy each, and suggests future developments that would facilitate applying the Principles to assess the usability of all types of products and environments.
Subject(s)
Rehabilitation/instrumentation , Technology/instrumentation , Adaptation, Physiological , Architecture , Environment Design , Equipment Design , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Forecasting , Guidelines as Topic , Housing , Humans , Man-Machine Systems , Rehabilitation/education , Teaching , Technology/educationABSTRACT
A study was conducted to evaluate the usability of the range of ramp slopes allowed under the current ADA accessibility guidelines. One hundred seventy-one subjects of all ages and using different types of mobility aids traversed a 30-foot ramp varying in slope from 1:8 to 1:20. Data were recorded for pulse rate, energy expenditure, rate of travel, distance traveled, and the location of rest stops. Findings show that among all subjects only a few manual wheelchair users had difficulty traversing all 30 feet in ascent, even on slopes as steep as 1:8. Based on these results, changes to the technical requirements for ramp slope and length cannot be recommended at this time.
