Specialized products and spaces designed only for people with disabilities and older people will always be more expensive, look different, and carry a certain stigma. Since the 1980s, a small but dedicated group of designers and advocates has been promoting the concept of universal design as a way to create products and environments that are more usable by everyone, regardless of age or disability. And given the choice, all consumers are likely to prefer more usable products and environments. Terms such as accessible, adaptable, barrier free, transgenerational, life span, and universal design have been used almost interchangeably. It is important, however, to distinguish universal design from other approaches used to achieve accessibility in products and environments.
Universal design is a different approach with distinct advantages.
Accessible design refers to the design of specialized products, buildings, and exterior spaces to meet the needs of a selected segment of the total user population. Building code accessibility requirements are a good example of this approach. Moreover, because they are different and often duplicative, these design solutions also tend to be more expensive. Adaptable design refers to the design of certain products and environments to include features that can be readily adapted to the needs of particular users. A good example of adaptable design is the Braille overlays that some manufacturers provide for their appliances that can be used to make the display and controls legible to a person who is blind.