28/10/2011
Recently there has been a shift in attitude, away from treating disabled and older people and families with young children as special cases requiring special design solutions, and towards integrating them in the mainstream of everyday life through a more inclusive approach to the design of buildings, public spaces and, more recently, products and services. This is important for social equality but is also a significant opportunity for business growth through new products and services.
Central to an inclusive approach is the challenge of understanding and quantifying the numbers of people adversely affected by decisions made during the specification and design process. The 'design exclusion' takes several forms: older and disabled people suffer from it; so do economically vulnerable groups and those affected by changing technologies and work practices.
Senior management, design managers, marketing and branding executives, and purchasing and sales personnel all have a part to play in the delivery (or non-delivery) of inclusive design, and consumers have a key role in driving the process. There are many things that can make an inclusive environment one that every user of a facility can benefit. Organisations can see real rewards as individuals and people use that facility more and more for it's user friendly design to customers and employees.
