# Presentation: 819824

## SECOND SYMPOSIUM ON HOUSING FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

**SECOND SYMPOSIUM ON HOUSING FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES**

**Understanding Universal Design**
**June 30, 2004**
**US Department of Health and Human Services**

**Notes:**
GOOD MORNING
BEFORE I BEGIN I’D LIKE TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING I RAN ACROSS UP IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NC.

I WAS IN THE MOUNTAINS. 
IT WAS A COOL GREY MORNING. 
 I WAS FEELING LOW UNTIL I  LOOKED UP AND SAW THIS GLORIOUS SITE!!!
**

## Whole Wall Reinforcing Best

## Storage/CabinetFeatures

- Storage/CabinetFeatures

## Topics

- Background
- Why does it matter, who does it benefit?
- What is Universal housing like?
- Universal Design  vs. other concepts
- Barriers to Universal housing
- Resources

## Universal Design

- The design of all products and environments
- to be usable by all people to the greatest
- extent possible without the need for
- adaptation or specialized design.

## Is Universal Design the same as...

- Accessible Design
- 	Visitable Design
- 		ADA Compliant Design
- 			Barrier Free Design
- 				Specialized Design
- 			Assistive Technology
- 		“Handicapped” Design
- A new age euphemism?

## Disability MovementForces Equal Rights

- Rehabilitation Acts for Veterans
- ANSI 117.1 - 1961
- Architectural Barriers Act (1968)
- Federal Standards - MGRAD
- Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504

**Notes:**
The first Rehabilitation Act focused on the needs of veterans. this was passed after the first World War, around 1919. Later laws included the needs of people with disabilities who were not veterans. Amendments to the Rehabilitation act were added after World War II, the Korean war and the Vietnam war . In 1954, amendments to the Act widely extended services and benefits to people with disabilities. (Peterson, 1998).
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 included Section 504. This was the first civil rights law that prohibited discrimination towards people with disabilities, by recipients of federal funds. The law states, “No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States...shall solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
“For the first time, access to employment, education, buildings and society were taken out of the realm of a government benefit and put into the context of a civil right. Separate but equal facilities could not exist under the guise of good will or charity.” (Bonny, 1997)
Although the law was signed in 1973, the regulations that would give guidance to its implementation were not signed for four years. On April 4, 1977 the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities demanded that Califano sign the regulations or protests would be held all over the US.

## Decades of Progress

- UFAS standards
- 1980’s - Universal Design
- FHA 1988 Fair Housing Amendments Act
- ADA  1990 Civil Rights Nationwide

**Notes:**
The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988  (FHAA) built on the 1968 Fair Housing Act . The 1988 amendments added people with disabilities and families with children as two new protected classes. It was revolutionary in that it covered all housing, including private developments, even if there was no federal financing involved. 
The US Congress understood that people with disabilities needed choice in their living arrangements and that housing was a fundamental right. Many people with disabilities had been denied the right to buy or rent housing in neighborhoods of their choice. In addition to providing regulations that addressed housing policies, the FHAA created far reaching accessibility guidelines.
The new levels of accessibility were required only in brand new multi family housing, with four or more units. Although the access guidelines of the FHAA were not as stringent as the full accessibility required in limited numbers of units under other state laws, the impact was in the scope of these guidelines.
All units in a building with an elevator had to include the 7 design guidelines. In a non elevator building, all those on the ground floor were covered.
The intent was to build for now and for the future. Units that can meet the need of people with changing abilities need not be stigmatizing. Also, the FHAA guidelines supported more social integration for people with disabilities.

## Universal Design Goes 	Beyond Standards

- ADA Standards, Fair Housing Act provide minimum standards
- Compliant design may not be good design
- Universal design is inclusive design
- Requires the mindful creativity of the designer
- Incorporates awareness of all users needs

**Notes:**
The ADA Standards and the Fair Housing Amendments Act provide minimum standards that are a basis for universal design. However, it is possible for designers to comply with these standards and still not provide fully accessible nor good design. It is very possible for designers to comply with the standards as an afterthought; in these situations, the final solution is clearly a compromise. For example, the requirement to have at least one accessible entrance can be met  without the accessible entrance being the one that most people use. If the initial planning has sited the building so that the main entrance needs stairs, the ramped solution may be exhausting to use, unattractive and stigmatizing.

Universal design is inclusive design. It considers the needs of many users, at the outset of the design. People of diverse abilities will be able to participate and use what the designer has created. The designer must be mindful; must be aware of the range of users and incorporate these needs throughout all the design stages.

## Big Need

Limited Supply

- Limited Supply
**	****	**

- Why Universal Design?

## What Need?

- 20% of the population with disabilities
- Rapidly aging population
- Demographic changes, 1900 to 2000
- Increases 2000 - 2030
- International phenomena

## Look at the Numbers

- 27 million Americans report some difficulty with walking – less than 3 M use wheelchairs
- One in six (17%), 45 years of age or older (13.5 M middle aged and older adults) report some form of vision impairment.
- 22 M have some level of hearing impairment,
- The Arthritis Foundation estimates that 40 M have arthritis.

## Adaptive Environments

*Adaptive Environments*

- Trace R&D Center, University of Wisconsin

**Notes:**
These next slides developed by the Trace Center illustrate the impact that aging has on functional abilities. The images has a gray pie chart in the lower corner, with two colored wedges, the pink one represents the percentage of people with functional limitations and the orange one represents people with severe functional limitations.
Most of the image is filled with silhouettes of people. The first slide is of the age group 15-24 years, 6.6 % having functional limitations and 2% with severe functional limitations. In this image, there are 2 figures that are pink and 1 orange, representing people with limitations.

## Adaptive Environments

*Adaptive Environments*

- Trace R&D Center, University of Wisconsin

**Notes:**
There are 2 figures that are pink and 1 orange, representing people with limitations. The 3rd slide is of the age group 35-44 years, 13.4 % having functional limitations and 3% with severe functional limitations.

5 pink 2 orange. 

## Adaptive Environments

*Adaptive Environments*

- Trace R&D Center, University of Wisconsin

**Notes:**
The 4th slide is of the age group 45-54 years, 23 % having functional limitations and 6% with severe functional limitations.

9 pink
3 orange

## Adaptive Environments

*Adaptive Environments*

- Trace R&D Center, University of Wisconsin

**Notes:**
This next slide is of the age group 55-64 years, 34.2 % having functional limitations and 12% with severe functional limitations.
11 pink
6 orange

## Adaptive Environments

*Adaptive Environments*

- Trace R&D Center, University of Wisconsin

**Notes:**
The last slide in the series is of the age group 75 plus years, 72.5 % having functional limitations and 41% with severe functional limitations.

16 pink
20 orange

We all know about the wildly changing demographics...
Now you see the implications for changes in abilities, and the need for design that accommodates more more, more of the time.

## Limited Supply
Inaccessible Existing Housing
Multi-Family
Single Family
Most live in Peter Pan Homes

Little New Construction

- Inaccessible Existing Housing
- Multi-Family
- Single Family
- Most live in Peter Pan Homes
- Little New Construction
**	****	**

- Why Universal Homes?

## Universal Design

- Entrance		Circulation 		Materials
- Bathrooms		Controls		Finishes
- Storage 		Kitchen		HVAC
- Lighting		Hardware		Automation
- Fixtures		Appliances

## The Principles work most effectively 

**The Principles work most effectively **
**when used together**

## Lifespan Needs

- Easy Height

## Why UD?

- Everyone can use it
- Everyone likes it
- Some need it occasionally
- Some really need it always
- Blends with house design
- Adds value at resale

## Why UD?

- Independence
- Self-reliance
- Safety

## Universal Design

- Residential, non residential, products, information systems, educational methodology, urban design
- Focus on all people throughout lifespan
- Includes people with mobility impairments, sensory impairments, cognitive problems, health conditions, temporary disabilities, circumstantial disabilities
- Emphasizes marketable usability