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Category: Universal Design

Why Companies Must Invest In Accessible IoT and Universal Design

Screenshot-2018-4-4 Why Companies Must Engage Accessible IoT and Universal Design Smart Cities Library™

Innovating for People With Disabilities Why companies should invest in universal design. Sensor technology, automation, artificial intelligence and the evolution of natural-language processing have made our personal electronic devices more intuitive and functional than ever. In recent years, these technologies have converged to make up the Internet of Things (IoT)—that is, a movement to make everyday items “smart” by embedding…

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Convenience For You Is Independence For Me by @ToddStabelfeldt

Screenshot-2018-1-21 Innovating for people with disabilities Why companies should invest in universal design – IBM iX

Universal Design and Accessible IoT  Brings  Independence. Technology designed for the convenience of people without disabilities can give people with reduced mobility and functioning unprecedented independence. That outcome, says Louchez of Georgia Tech, can reconnect people to a fundamental part of the human experience. “A corollary of independence is also dignity,” he says. “Because the more independent you are, the…

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Persons with disabilities not to be left behind in smart cities  

Persons with disabilities not to be left behind in smart cities  

The answer seems to be a hopeful yes. At least 100 buildings each in 50 cities will be made accessible in a couple of years. These are part of the much hyped, technology intensive and ambitious ‘Smart Cities’ in the country. The Government had decided to turn 100 cities Smart.

The Government has selected these 50 cities under the Accessible India Campaign. Accordingly, the focus will be on auditing and ensuring access to atleast 25-50 of the most important government buildings in these cities fully accessible to these people by the end of 2017. By end of 2018, the target is to cover 50 per cent of all government building of the national capital region and all state capitals within reach….

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Centre for Universal Design Australia @UDAustralia

Screenshot-2017-12-8 December 2017 – Centre for Universal Design Australia

Front cover of the guide. It is blue with white text. It has outlines of pedestrians trees, buildings and transportThe Global Street Design Guide aims to set a global baseline for designing streets and public spaces as our world becomes increasingly urbanised. The Guide broadens the scope of how to measure the success of urban streets. It includes access, safety and mobility for all users, environmental quality, economic benefit, public health and overall quality of life. It is free to download from the Global Designing Cities Initiative. Each section can be downloaded separately and this is where technical details can be found.

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Inclusivity by Guide Dogs – A Different Perspective on Smart Cities | Conscious Cities

Inclusivity by Guide Dogs – A Different Perspective on Smart Cities | Conscious Cities

This article aims to educate and challenge current thought leadership and emerging policies concerning the development of our Smart Cities, and the design and deployment of digital technologies and their impact on citizen wellbeing. We want to ensure that future Infrastructure and Smart City solutions serve the needs of all sectors of society; including people living with sensory loss, older people, people with physical disability, and people with learning disabilities. These sectors of society are so often forgotten and have struggled for years in a world defined by a legacy of Victorian infrastructure; as we move to the next great era of technology innovation, our policies and standards for city design and infrastructure investment need to proactively champion inclusivity for everyone.

Inclusion for all sectors of society surely has to be an important metric to attain ‘Smart City’ status….

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Smart City Collaboration in Preparation for the World Urban Forum  

Collaboration in Preparation for the World Urban Forum  

On November 1, 2017, the DIAUD Network held another successful meeting in preparation for the 9th World Urban Forum (WUF9), which will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next February. Members provided information about their planned representation and contributions at the Forum and were also able to collaborate in planning logistics for various events and meetings that will be taking place. The discussion was led by Federico Batista Poitier, Executive Assistant to the President and Communications Coordinator for Global Alliance on Accessible Technologies and Environments (GAATES) outlining the side events under consideration by GAATES and World Enabled for WUF9….

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Self-Driving Cars Could Transform Travel for People With Disabilities | The Mighty

accessible transit showing a woman using a wheechair entering bus png

Karin Willison discusses how the emerging self-driving car industry will impact people with disabilities, increasing opportunities for employment and community participation. Source: Self-Driving Cars Could Transform Travel for People With Disabilities | The Mighty

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Google Impact Challenge | Disabilities – Grants

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Meet the innovators working toward a more accessible future.We’re supporting forward-thinking nonprofits with big ideas that use technology to expand opportunity and independence for people with disabilities. As part of the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities, we awarded 29 amazing grantees with $20 million in grants to help address accessibility challenges all over the world—and now, we’re helping them bring their…

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The Best Smart City Playgrounds Are Innovative, Accessible, and Awesome

The unconventional structures and pretend tractors at Tatum’s Garden are fun for all little sprouts.Photo by Tatums Garden

In the good ol’ days of childhood, having fun didn’t require making plans, buying tickets, or splitting the check seven ways. All it took was a swing set and a sandbox. While kids these days are already light years ahead of that, what with their iPhones and Xboxes, cities are compensating by building some pretty awesome playgrounds. What used to…

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Inclusive Design Toolkit

Inclusive-Design-Toolkit-10-year-anniversary

Every design decision has the potential to include or exclude customers. Inclusive design emphasizes the contribution that understanding user diversity makes to informing these decisions, and thus to including as many people as possible. User diversity covers variation in capabilities, needs and aspirations. This site first presents an example set of ‘Product performance indicators’, i.e. things that should be considered…

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Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD)

Institure-on-Human-Centered-Design-Logo

The Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD), founded in Boston in 1978 as Adaptive Environments, is an international non-governmental educational organization (NGO) committed to advancing the role of design in expanding opportunity and enhancing experience for people of all ages and abilities through excellence in design. IHCD’s work balances expertise in legally required accessibility with promotion of best practices in…

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Universal Design | DESIGN RESEARCH PORTAL

Univeral-Design-Portal

The goal of this Design Portal Research (DRP) is to have the best industrial design – product design sites in one place. We are a superb starting point for any Industrial Design – Product Design related research. Check out the many articles and resources on Universal Design!   Source: Universal Design | DESIGN RESEARCH PORTAL – DRP

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SMART ACCESSIBILITY 2018

Third International Conference on Universal Accessibility in the Internet of Things and Smart Environments SMART ACCESSIBILITY 2018 banner

Third International Conference on Universal Accessibility in the Internet of Things and Smart Environments SMART ACCESSIBILITY 2018 Source: SMART ACCESSIBILITY 2018

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Adding Universal Design Techniques to Keep Austin Beautiful

Woman in wheelchair

Imagine a city where a person in a wheelchair can chart a route to the local park using curb cuts and avoiding barriers. She can then connect to the park’s Wi-Fi, receive upcoming events notifications and take e-lessons about the trees and flowers in bloom. How to add accessibility and purposeful inclusion to Austin’s Recycling and Keep Austin Beautiful Initiatives.…

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