Produced monthly by Elaine Ostroff in cooperation with
the Adaptive Environments Center, Boston, MA., USA

Volume 2, Number 2, FEBRUARY 2000

Contents

• Editor's Note
• News from the Global Network
• Australia
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Designing for the 21^st Century II, An International Conference on Universal Design June 14-18, 2000
• Global Universal Design Educator's Network e-mail list
• Calendar
• Adding your information, questions to the Online News

EDITOR'S NOTE

In this issue we hear from Australia, with a request about culturally appropriate design for indigenous populations; we learn about opportunities to participate in international conferences in Canada and the United Kingdom, an award from CIRRIE to support travel of two international leaders, and we have updates from the Trace Center on universal design in information. We have information about a new funding opportunity from the National Endowment on the Arts to promote universal design, the programs of the new RERC on Universal Design at Buffalo and upcoming online courses at the University of Southern California.

Information from the Monthly Online News may be freely copied and quoted as long as the individual author and this source is cited. Previous issues of the Online News are available online at the Adaptive Environments website at http://www.adaptenv.org/global/.

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NEWS FROM THE GLOBAL NETWORK

AUSTRALIA

QUESTION ON CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE UNIVERSAL DESIGN

Angela.Cappelli asks readers to respond to her question about work in rural areas. She writes, "This question is for circulation to anyone who may have ideas and information. I am currently working with the indigenous Australian Population in the remote and rural areas of Australia. They are interested in using the theme of universal design in housing and their communities. However, the designs need to be culturally appropriate and very inexpensive, in these areas money is very limited. They have in the past been disempowered and I wish to raise their awareness of Universal Design and the benefits but need to be alert to enforcing my ideas. I need to give them as much information as possible how it works in the western areas and in other countries such as India, Africa etc, more rural than urban. The decision to do this must come from them and therefore how it has been used in similar cultures would be great." Respond directly to Angela.Cappelli@DWNREM.THS.nt.gov.au.

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CANADA

INCLUSION BY DESIGN: PLANNING THE BARRIER-FREE WORLD, CALL FOR PAPERS

From June 1-5, 2001, The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work is hosting an international world congress - INCLUSION BY DESIGN - Planning the Barrier-Free World in Montréal, Canada (Palais des Congrès de Montréal). As well as encouraging barrier-free design, the conference delegates and presenters will look at inclusive policies which can be developed and implemented through government, corporate and community infrastructures. INCLUSION BY DESIGN is a call to the world to stop, think and take action.

Senior Canadian and international representatives are invited to attend this truly unique and progressive event. Approximately 2,000 delegates and presenters from around the world will reflect a range of global issues, experiences and solutions. The event brings together the policy makers, educators, professionals, organizations and individuals who focus on implementing universal design and equal access for all people.

INCLUSION BY DESIGN will incorporate two approaches:

• First, it will promote the application of universal design and barrier-free measurements for to products, goods and services.
• Second, it will emphasize that recognition of an accessible and inclusive environment cannot become a reality without the deliberate and persistent effort of citizens and their leaders.

INCLUSION BY DESIGN will address numerous major issues and, to maintain momentum and stimulate meaningful action, it is expected that significant initiatives will follow the event. In addition to continued networking, partnership building and information exchange, there will be outcomes that will require regional, national and international collaboration. You may choose to submit a Theme/Topic/Subject presentation or a Best Practices presentation. Congress themes are Inclusive Employment, Inclusive Communities and Developing Universal Access. Within these themes, there are essential components to ensure mobility, accessibility and opportunity for everyone.

For the full details on submission, see the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work website at www.ccrw.org or contact ktoupin@ccrw.org. English and French are the official conference languages. Suitable support technologies will be available including sign language interpretation, alternate-to-print media, overhead projection and other assistive devices.

IMPORTANT DATES
April 7, 2000     Submission Deadline
June 9, 2000     Notification of consideration/ rejection
July 21, 2000     Notification of acceptance
Nov. 3, 2000     Submission of full paper

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UNITED KINGDOM

UKIID 2000 INCLUSIVE DESIGN

Andrew Walker, Chair of UKIID, the United Kingdom Institute for Inclusive Design, announces their conference on Inclusive Design. The conference begins on Friday 2nd of June and workshops will take place in the afternoon of 3rd June. On Sunday 4th of June, delegates will tour practical examples, in and around London, to see how inclusive design is making facilities accessible.

UKIID is part of the European Institute for Design and Disability (EIDD) network that includes 14 countries. EIDD will hold its open Annual General Meeting at the conference on the morning of the 3rd June. A strong representation from the other partners in EIDD is expected, bringing together the leaders in the European inclusive design movement across all relevant areas of design. A delegation from the United States is also expected. A Conference in the UK on this topic is particularly timely, given the emphasis in the report of the Disability Rights Taskforce upon the need to promote inclusive design (Design for All) as a means of achieving accessibility in manufactured products.

The conference will take place at the London Underground's conference facilities at Canary Wharf - 30 The South Colonnade - where there is a now a direct link with Canary Wharf and Waterloo Station on the newly opened fully accessible Jubilee Line.

Details available from Liz Irwin at:
e.irwin@gsa.ac.uk, Glasgow School of Art 167 Renfrew Street Glasgow 3 6RQ or Tel: 0141 353 4645.

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UNITED STATES

CIRRIE ANNOUNCES AWARD TO RATZKA, KAWAUCHI

CIRRIE, The Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange at the University at Buffalo, is pleased to announce its support for the Designing in the 21st Century II Conference on June 14-18, 2000 in Providence, Rhode Island. CIRRIE has approved travel grants submitted by Adaptive Environments of Boston, Mass. to support Adolf Ratzka, Ph.D. of Sweden and Yoshi Kawauchi of Japan, to participate in the conference.

Adolph Ratzka, Ph.D. is an instrumental rehabilitation researcher and a pragmatic leader in the disability movement. Time Magazine recognized him as a European Visionary in 1999. He will be a keynote speaker and will also participate in the plenary panel highlighting International Policies for Universal Design.

Yoshi Kawauchi is a respected Japanese architect, a disability advocate and technical expert on universal design. He will be a keynote speaker at the conference, will also participate in the invited panel on 'User Experts: Teaching, Practicing, Advocating for Universal Design' and will be a resource person in the pre-conference workshop, 'Building Community: a Mentoring Workshop for Disabled Designers'.

CIRRIE is funded by The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. One of its primary goals is the sharing of information and expertise in rehabilitation research between the U.S. and other countries. CIRRIE will assist U.S. rehabilitation research conference organizers, funded by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS), to establish or strengthen an international component within their conferences by involving eminent colleagues from other countries. Similarly, CIRRIE will assist research organizations in other countries to sponsor rehabilitation experts from the U.S. to speak at their conferences.

In addition to the conference, CIRRIE will fund the travel of Dr. Ratzka and Mr. Kawauchi to several additional sites in the U.S. where they will collaborate with other researchers in their fields. CIRRIE encourages participation in activities at more than one location/center while in the U.S. to ensure broad dissemination of international expertise.

For more information on all CIRRIE programs, please visit our web site at http://cirrie.buffalo.edu.

SUNY BUFFALO BEGINS WORK IN NEW RERC ON UNIVERSAL DESIGN

In January, the State University of New York at Buffalo's School of Architecture and Planning, through its Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center), initiated work on the newly funded Rehabilitation Engineering and Research Center (RERC) on Universal Design at Buffalo. The Center represents a five year, three million dollar partnership between UB's IDEA Center and representatives of Design and Disability communities nationwide. It is sponsored by the US Department of Education through the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

The concept of Universal Design provides access for those with disabilities beyond what is defined as compliant with current laws, while at the same time making products and places easier to use, more enjoyable and more marketable to all members of a community or a customer base.

The RERC on Universal Design at Buffalo is one of two Centers in the U.S. recently funded by the Department of Education to study Universal Design The other RERC on Universal Design is the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University.

Research
The major research project to be conducted by the RERC will establish precise parameters for use when designing for people who use wheelchairs -- by studying the abilities and range of motion of 500 local residents with disabilities. A second project will demonstrate the advantages of Universal Design by comparison and contrast of existing access in eight buildings nationwide. The results will include development of research tools for designers across the country.

Development
The RERC-Universal Design at Buffalo will work within the national design community to raise awareness of universal design and promote projects that develop new products for the marketplace. With the help of the RERC for Technology Evaluation and Transfer, and the Western New York Independent Living Center, five innovative and universally designed products will be chosen to receive free market research studies, and assistance in achieving marketability.

The RERC- Universal Design at Buffalo staff will also work with Concrete Change of Atlanta Georgia, and with other local and national housing advocates, to promote the concept of Visitability, which helps to integrate neighborhoods by removing physical barriers to social contact.

Training
A model curriculum project will develop multidisciplinary coursework on Universal Design within the Schools of Architecture, Engineering, and Health Related Professions.

Dissemination
The RERC- Universal Design at Buffalo has acquired the rights to reproduce "Unlimited By Design," a multimedia exhibit on Universal Design, from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Staff will accompany the exhibit to cities nationwide to generate interest in Universal Design, as well as to support the development of Universal Design demonstration projects in target cities subsequent to the exhibit. In addition, the RERC- Universal Design at Buffalo will produce video programs and booklets for consumers, and maintain a quarterly column in the Universal Design Newsletter, a national forum for architects, designers, and consumers interested in state-of-art information on universal design.

Technical Assistance Program
The RERC- Universal Design at Buffalo will facilitate access to a network of expert professionals throughout the United States who practice the Universal Design process and philosophy through a toll-free hotline operated by the Center for Assistive Technology at the University at Buffalo. In addition, the program will offer fee-based Technical Assistance and Consulting services to the business and design communities.

The IDEA Center's director, Dr. Edward Steinfeld, is one of the developers of the concept of universal design. Also an award-winning architect, and a full professor at the University, Steinfeld is excited about the new project: "We (RERC- Universal Design at Buffalo) will help develop resources for universal design practice throughout the country and facilitate a dialogue on the practice and delivery of universal design. Our goal is to assist in building the universal design community." For more information, contact Steven Truesdale, Assistant Director at: stt2@ap.buffalo.edu, or 716.829.3485 x335.

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS TO AWARD GRANT FOR PROMOTION OF UD

The National Endowment for the Arts is requesting proposals leading to one (1) award of a Cooperative Agreement for a project with the goal of creating greater public awareness of and demand for universal designed environments. The Program Solicitation is posted on the Endowment's Web site at: http://arts.endow.gov/guide/RFPS/UniversalDesign.html. The successful proposal should focus on the design of spaces and landscapes and address one or more of the recommendations in the "Report on the June 7-8, 1999 Meeting on Universal Design" on the Website at: http://arts.endow.gov/explore/ud/contents.html. It should include educational efforts targeted to designers, consumers, and decision makers, and involve collaboration with the targeted audiences, as well as the use of innovative strategies to bring the benefits of universal design into the mainstream.

Endowment funding is limited to $75,000. A one-to-one match is required. The proposal is due on April 10, 2000. Work under the Cooperative Agreement is anticipated to commence by May 2000 and be completed within one year.

THE NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER ON SUPPORTIVE HOUSING AND HOME MODIFICATION NEW ONLINE COURSES

In conjunction with the University of Southern California's Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center, The National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification will be offering a series of online classes on home modifications and supportive housing beginning this spring. Each exciting module will offer critical information designed especially for case managers, service providers, information and referral specialists, occupational and physical therapists, and social workers.

Drawing on the expertise of the faculty of the leading center on gerontological research, students will learn how older persons can successfully age in place. Dr. Jon Pynoos, the Director of the National Resource Center and a leading authority in this area for over twenty-five years, will be featured as well as many other of the nation's foremost experts including Alan Brown of Extended Home Living Services and Richard Duncan of the North Carolina State University's Center for Universal Design.

Each course is comprised of four modules on different topics (e.g., assessments, building local coalitions). The course materials can be accessed in an asynchronous fashion along with regularly scheduled class discussions via "cyber classrooms." The cost for each course is $25 and includes an online processing fee. Students will be awarded an Executive Certificate in Home Modification from the University of Southern California on completion of all four courses in the series.

Topics include: introduction to home modifications and prevalence, assessments, funding, accessing community resources, service delivery, techniques for contract negotiations, techniques for raising community awareness and coalition building as well as many other valuable lessons in creating healthy, safe and comfortable communities.

Maria Henke, Distance Learning Specialist for the National Resource Center, was instrumental in launching the first accredited gerontology program online at the Andrus Gerontology Center: "I am excited to now be able to offer the same convenient, flexible and cutting edge technologies that we make available in our Undergraduate and Graduate Programs to professionals interested in home modification and supportive housing. Thanks to the generosity of The California Endowment and The Archstone Foundation, the expertise of Dr. Jon Pynoos and his colleagues will be available to interested individuals in an inexpensive and convenient format."

Courses will start May 9, 2000. For more information and early registration, please contact Maria Henke at (213) 740-1364 or email mhenke@usc.edu.

TRACE R&D CENTER WORKING WITH INDUSTRY

The Trace R&D Center keeps us informed of the results of their significant research and collaboration with industry through their website.

Following are several items excerpted from the 'New" section of their site at: http://www.trace.wisc.edu/new/.

EZ AccessTM Interface Techniques
EZ AccessTM provides a standard way for people with disabilities to use all manner of electronic devices, Automated Teller Machines to microwave ovens, to cellular phones, to interactive multimedia kiosks, to coffee vending machines. EZ Access is not necessarily complex or expensive to implement; it is a flexible but standard set of interface strategies for allowing people to access and use electronic devices even when they are operating under constrained conditions. The constrained conditions might result from their having a disability or from environmental factors. EZ Access is a set of features that can change the way electronic devices operate to make them easier to use for everybody. The EZ Access package includes features for people with low vision, blindness, reduced hearing, deafness, physical disabilities, reading problems, inability to read, and more.

EZTM Access is licensed by the University of Wisconsin's Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Developers of electronic devices who are interested in implementing EZ Access into their own products should contact the Trace Center for more information.

Trace's partners and success stories with EZ Access(tm) include 'The Productivity Works,' 'Quad Media,' and 'Web Kiosks.' The following is also from the Trace site, as an excerpt from http://www.prodworks.com.

"pwKiosk is Web accessibility software specifically for the Kiosk and touch screen environments. It provides the most cost effective, FCC and ADA compliant, information and service Kiosk solution." "The pwKiosk software provides the capability to turn any Web-based presentation into an accessible presentation on a Kiosk. pwKiosk uses standard touch screen access enhanced with USB-port access for button controls. In this way, pwKiosk provides a generalized commercial implementation of the Trace Research and Development Center's EZ AccessTM accessible user interface guidelines. Both non-visual and limited mobility interface modes are supported.

Trace notes: "FCC and ADA Compliance involves both the physical accessibility of the kiosk and the accessibility of the user interface. pwKiosk provides the user interface components, while the physical kiosk manufacturer must provide the physical accessibility aspects."

Another collaborator is Quad Media, addressing the problem of inaccessible voting booths.

"Quad Media announced its agreement with Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S), making ES&S the exclusive distributor of Quad Media's accessibility products to the political voting/election industry. ... "ES&S's distribution of Quad Media's fully American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant Portable Interactive Kiosk (PiK) products will offer the election industry a means to make polling places across the nation accessible to all citizens," states Quad Media President Bernard LaFleur" (excerpted from http://www.quadmedia.com)

Cross-disability Accessible Cell Phones
The Trace Center is in the process of generating a series of reference designs for cross-disability accessible cell phones. The designs meet all of the specifications in the FCC/Access Board Guidelines. The first design, Reference Design 1, is intended to show how a single phone can be designed so that it would be cross-disability accessible as well as usable and attractive to mass market customers.

Reference Design 1 uses only technologies that are already found in today's cell phones (although the software in the telephones today may not currently be written to use these technologies in an accessible fashion). The only exception to this is hearing aid compatibility with digital wireless phones. The design assumes that industry will develop a solution to this problem in conjunction with ANSI C63 and that the solution would be incorporated into this design.

The cost to implement the features described in the reference designs is nominal. Basically, it involves the addition of a single button to the key pad on the front of the phone and an alteration of the software instructions that tell the phone how to behave. They note that a design which does not require the addition of the extra button is also possible. All of the technologies described and used in this phone are already present in other cell phones today. Most of them are in low cost phones. A couple of technologies are currently only found in mid-range phones, but we expect these technologies to be available in the inexpensive phones shortly (except where there are marketing reasons for companies to reserve some features for higher end phones for product differentiation rather than cost reasons). For more information, see: http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/phones/

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DESIGNING FOR THE 21^st CENTURY II
An International Conference on Universal Design

The full program announcement is available on the conference website at http://www.adaptenv.org/21century/ and registration can be completed online at the website as well as by mail and fax.

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GLOBAL UNIVERSAL DESIGN EDUCATOR'S E-MAIL LIST

This is distinct from the newsletter that you are now receiving. This is an automated electronic list. We invite you to subscribe if you want additional, more frequent dialogue with other educators, designers, students and advocates.

To subscribe, send a message to: guden-l@adaptenv.org Leave the subject blank. In the body of the message, write 'subscribe. This must be from the computer that you use for your e-mail.

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CALENDAR

March 1-3, 2000
Clearing the Path: Arts and Accessibility in New England
Royal Sonesta Hotel, Cambridge, MA
A regional symposium that will give an opportunity for New England arts organizations to move toward accessibility for all people.
See: www.vsamass.org/arts-and-accessibility.html

March 3-March 5, 2000
14th Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute, "Achieving An Accessible World: Partnerships, Roadblocks, And Opportunities", American Foundation for the Blind
Marriott Quorum Hotel, Dallas, Texas
Contact info at:
Phone: 972-661-2800
Fax: 972-934-1731
URL: www.afb.org/jltli/announce00.html

March 20-25, 2000
15th Annual International Conference, "Technology and Persons with Disabilities"
Hilton Los Angeles Airport Hotel and the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel
The conference covers all aspects of technology and disabilities, and features a faculty of internationally recognized speakers.
See: www.csun.edu/cod/

March 25-28, 2000
46th Annual Meeting of the American Society on Aging,
"Passages Through Time: Facing Change, Finding Meaning"
Town and Country Hotel & Convention Center, San Diego, California
More information at: www.asaging.org.

May 10-14, 2000
Caring Communities for the 21st Century: Imagining the Possible, "Towards a Community for All"
United Nations Headquarters, New York
See: www.un.org/events/agingcf.htm

May 10-14, 2000
Building Bridges: Connecting People, Research and Design
edra 31 will be held at the Cathedral Hills Hotel in San Francisco, California.
The conference organizers invite the participation of design educators and professionals, planners, social scientists, and others interested in the relationship of people and places and the design and management of places that are responsive to human needs.
See: http://www.telepath.com/edra/home.html

June 2-4, 2000
United Kingdom Institute for Inclusive Design, London, England
This will include the Annual General Meeting of the European Institute on Design and Disability.
Contact info: Andrew Walker at andrew@cottage.sonnet.co.uk

June 6-7, 2000
Mobile Communications, Encouraging Developments for persons with Disabilities and Elderly People Worldwide
A Rehabilitation International Seminar in Potsdam, Germany.
Web site: www.dvfr.de
Contact: info@dvfr.de

June 14 - 18, 2000
Designing for the 21st Century II, An International Conference on Universal Design
Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Contact info:
E-mail: 21stcentury@adaptenv.org
Web site: www.adaptenv.org/21century

June 28 - July 2, 2000
RESNA 2000 Annual Conference, Technology for the New Millennium
RESNA 2000 brings together people who use, develop, manufacture, and deliver these technologies.
Omni Rosen Hotel, Orlando, Florida
See: www.resna.org/resna/resna2k/index.html

July 12 - 15, 2000
AHEAD - "Y2KC: Universal Designs in Higher Education"
Join AHEAD in the New Millennium in Kansas City, Missouri, the Heart of America!
See: www.ahead.org/conf2000.htm

November 8-22, 2000
World Congress on Environmental Design for the New Millennium
Seoul, Korea
This committee aims to collect world wisdom and creativity to shape our built environment for the next Millennium.
See: www.millenniumED.org

June 1-5, 2001
Inclusion by Design - Planning the Barrier-Free World in Montréal, Canada (Palais des Congrès de Montréal)
The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work is hosting an international world congress. Submissions Due April 5, 2000.
Web site: http://www.ccrw.org
E-mail: ktoupin@ccrw.org

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Adding your information, questions to the Online News: 

Send e-mail to elaine@ostroff.org by the 20th of each month for the next month's mailing. Articles should be limited to 600 words. If the issue is too full to include, and the timeliness of the article allows it, we may hold the item until the following month.

Elaine Ostroff, Founding Director, Adaptive Environments Center, Editor.

374 Congress Street, Suite 301
Boston, MA 02210
Tel 617 695 1225 x30
Fax 617 482 8099

elaine@ostroff.org
http://www.adaptenv.org/21century/

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