This glossary is intended to introduce the reader to key terms and associated concepts and to help navigate complex issues, such as human rights, the classification of ability/disability and the proliferation of related design responses.
Accessibility - Physical access, sensory access to buildings, services and information, via speaking browsers, sign language animations, Braille, etc. Now a legal requirement under disability discrimination legislation in the US, UK, etc.
Ageing - The ageing process is not itself a disability, but is characterised by the accumulation of progressive multiple minor impairments predominantly related to sight, hearing, dexterity, mobility and cognition. In combination these can lead to high levels of disability and dependency.
Assistive Technology - Also referred to as rehabilitation design, but primarily focused on enabling social participation of people with severe impairments. Much work in this area has been concerned with developing one-off solutions and specialist equipment for small numbers of people.
Barrier-free design - The original focus of disability campaigners and architects was on barrier-free access to buildings and public environments - kerb cuts, textured paving, ramped entry, wider doorways, corridors and accessible toilets - all denoted by a wheelchair symbol.
Carer-assisted design - It is important that people who are reliant on carers are considered part of the whole population. This implies considering the needs of both user and carer. Importantly, older people are often cared for by spouses and relatives who are also elderly.
Civil rights - Disability activists increasingly see access and participation as basic human rights, which can only be guaranteed by effective and enforceable legislation. Especially important in the US, where civil rights are enshrined in the constitution.
Customisable design - Computer-aided manufacture makes possible the customisation of individual products in production. A wide range of users can thus be accommodated within the overall specification of a product delivered as unique items matching individual requirements.
Design exclusion - Term developed by the i~design team to focus attention on those excluded by design features. The team has developed ways to quantify design exclusion based population data. If users must be excluded, such decisions should be rational and justified.
Design for all - EU term equivalent to universal design, but with an emphasis on information. The current goal is the establishment of national centres of excellence in design for all education and dissemination across Europe. These are envisaged as virtual rather than physical centres.
Design for disability - There is a significant tradition of design for disability, mainly focused on aids and adaptations. Related to the medical model of disability (and ageing), the underlying intent is essentially prosthetic, originating in rehabilitation of war veterans.
Disability - In the past, people were seen as disabled by their condition. Now the move is towards understanding disability as the result of a mismatch between individuals and their social and physical environment. PC terminology differs from country to country.
Ethnography - Observing users in real-life situations and interacting with products is highly revealing. Small video cameras and desktop editing software make this a fertile and expanding form of research in social sciences and among the design community.
Gerontechnology - Concept developed at Technical University of Eindhoven, Netherlands, with US and Finnish colleagues. It is a consumer/market orientated approach combining human factors, social sciences, gerontology and engineering and applying technology to address age-related factors. Consumer/market oriented approach.
Health condition/status - Terms used by the WHO to group disease, congenital and other factors previously dealt with in more strictly medical terms, allowing them to be seen as falling within a continuum of health conditions which all impact on quality of life and capability.
Impairment - Health conditions, ageing, and traumatic events can all result in impaired capability. Whether this gives rise to disability is determined by social and environmental factors, and importantly the design of environments, products, systems and services.
Inclusive design - Process-driven approach by designers and industry to ensure that products and services address the needs of the widest possible consumer base, regardless of age or ability. Emphasis is placed on working with ‘critical users’ to stretch design briefs.
Independence - For older people, independence is crucial. It can be compromised by inappropriate design, and is conditional on being able to carry out daily living activities like bathing, dressing, cooking, contact with family and friends and social participation.
Medical model - The medical model of disability and ageing implies that people are disabled as a consequence of their own condition, and seeks to either remedy the impairment through medication, rehabilitation and surgery, or through adaptive aids and equipment.
Modular design - Designs which, by virtue of interchangeable units or add-on elements, can be configured to meet a wide range of requirements, particularly with regard to the user interface, thus extending the range of users served by a single design or product.
Participation - Participation and social integration are key factors. Some severely disabled people prefer the help of a personal assistant where activities are time-consuming to perform. Priorities for younger disabled people are fulfilment and social involvement.
Social inclusion - A Europe-wide political objective, aimed at combating social discrimination, marginalisation and conflict due to age, disability, poverty or ethnicity. Particularly important due to the diversity of ethnic groups in the enlarged EU.
Social model - In contrast, the social model, which has superseded the medical model, sees people as disabled or enabled by the social context in which they function and proposes that changes in the social context or environment can remove or alleviate disability.
Trans-generational design - Concept developed by Prof James Pirkl and colleagues at the University of Syracuse, USA. It proposes that designs should work for people of all ages. It replaces universal design emphasis on disability with a market-led approach, and resulted in quality book of the same title.
Universal access - Access for all to information and communications technology (ICT). Also used in assistive technology to refer to specialist interfaces and control devices to make ICT products accessible to people with high levels of impairment.
Universal design - Term originating in the USA and underpinned by seven principles set out by architect and designer Ron Mace. It extends barrier-free design and universal access to include access to products and services and has been taken up enthusiastically in Japan.
User research - Understanding users is key to inclusive and user-aware design. User research can be carried out by designers themselves, in which case it is likely to be based on empathic interaction with small groups of extreme users, supplemented by observation.
User research methods - There are several publications on user research methods including The Methods Lab (RCA) and USERfit (HUSAT for the EU). User research is also carried out by specialist organisations such as RICAbility, market research companies and academic groups.
User-friendly - Products, packaging, manuals, information, services, environments, and interfaces etc that have been designed for simplicity and/or ease of use, and are marketed and promoted in ways that highlight user-(age, etc) friendly features and operations.
User-aware design - Mainstream design that understands user needs and aspirations and so maximises the number of people who can use a product, service, or interface. This can only ever include a proportion of the whole population, making additional approaches necessary.
User-centred/focused design - Approach that places users at the heart of the design process, and involves and engages with users in ways that make them part of or integral to the design process itself. Similar terms, such as co-design, are used in architecture and planning.
WHO standard model (of disability) - First published by the World Health Organisation in 1980 described a cascade of effects from impaired capability to handicap. Based on the medical model (see above).
Revised WHO model - The standard model was replaced (Nov 2001) with a new International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). This shifts the focus to life quality and how we function in social and other contexts, which can be improved by design.