Universal design
A set of seven principles for designing products, spaces and services that all people can use, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.
What problem it addresses
It avoids designing for an “average” person and then adding separate solutions for whoever is left out.
Components
Equitable use
Useful to people with diverse abilities, without segregating or singling anyone out.
Flexibility in use
It adapts to different preferences and ways of using it.
Simple and intuitive use
Easy to understand without prior experience or much concentration.
Perceptible information
It communicates through several senses, whatever the setting.
Tolerance for error
It reduces the risks and consequences of a mistake.
Low physical effort
It can be used comfortably and without fatigue.
Size and space for approach and use
To approach, reach and use it, with any body or posture.
How it works
Think about the diversity of people from the start.
Review the design against each of the seven principles.
What works for some usually makes things easier for everyone.
Applications in design
Use it like this
Review a product, a space or a service principle by principle before launching it.
Avoid
Solving accessibility with a separate version, like a back entrance only for wheelchairs.
Don’t fall for it
No design works for everyone: back up the seven principles with tests alongside the people who need them most.
Connections
Related to
Authors and works
- 1997
Bettye Rose Connell, Ron Mace and others
They wrote the seven principles at The Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University.
Sources
Original sources
- Connell, B. R., Jones, M., Mace, R., Mueller, J., Mullick, A., Ostroff, E., Sanford, J., Steinfeld, E., Story, M., & Vanderheiden, G. (1997). The principles of universal design (versión 2.0). The Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University.
Last reviewed: