Coalition for Equal Access (CC=A) As President of the Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americans, along with the President of the Connecticut Alliance for Retired Americans, and as person with disabilities, I’ve been asked to participate and support an initiative CC=A is undertaking, I’ve also asked our Congressional members to participate in this CC=A imitative. I would like to introduce you to the Citizens Coalition for Equal Access (CC=A). The CC=A Mission Statement is to promote awareness and dignity of persons living with disabilities by removing physical and social barriers at all levels of society. CC=A Objectives ¨ To improve understanding of the barriers faced by people living with disabilities. To ensure that this improved understanding leads to action to remove barriers to educational, governmental, and social systems. To ensure comprehensive, dignified, safe, and self-reliant access to both private and public buildings that provide services to the general public. To achieve improvements in meeting the basic human needs of people living with disabilities. To ensure inclusion of all people, including those with severe disabilities, in all aspects of society. To help people living with disabilities to learn strategies that advance their cause, including the importance of voting. Universal Design and Infrastructure Investment
CC=A (Citizens Coalition for Equal Access) believes that the concept of Universal Design should be core to all building codes, policies and regulations, including those governing pedestrian rightsof-way, transit facilities, and any other projects related to the nation’s infrastructure. CC=A is concerned that no agency of the federal government charged with enforcement of the ADA has adopted as policy the 2011 US Access Board Guidelines for Pedestrian Rights-of-Way. Universal Design Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of their age, size or disability. This includes public places in the built environment such as buildings, streets or spaces that the public has access to; products and services provided in those places; and systems that are available including information and communications technology (ICT). (Disability Act, 2005) The Universal Design concept, originally developed with the disabled in mind, should be looked on as the norm unless, and with no possible alternatives, structural integrity is compromised. Global Universal Design Commission The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) was established by the National Disability Authority (NDA) in January 2007 under the Disability Act 2005. http:// universaldesign.ie/About-Us/ , http:// www.globaluniversaldesign.org/ gudc-action Infrastructure Investment The President and members of Congress have all spoken to the
urgency of using government funding to upgrade and reinvest in the nation’s infrastructure. All federal funding toward relevant infrastructure projects should be contingent upon use of the 2011 US Access Board Guidelines for Pedestrian Rightsof-Way: https://www.accessboard.gov/guidelines-andstandards/streetssidewalks/public-rights-ofway/proposed-rights-of-wayguidelines What is universal design… inclusive design…design for all? …a framework for the design of places, things, information, communication, and policy that focuses on the user, on the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. Or, more simply: HumanCentered design of everything with everyone in mind. UNIVERSAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES (Developed by a group of US designers and design educators from five organizations in 1997. Principles are copyrighted to the Center for Universal Design, the State University of North Carolina at Raleigh. The principles are in use internationally.) Equitable use: The design does not disadvantage any group. Flexibility in use: The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities Simple, intuitive use: Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level Perceptible information: The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user regardless of the user’s sensory abilities Tolerance for Error: The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions. Low physical effort: The
design can be used efficiently and comfortably, with a minimum of fatigue Size and Space for Approach & Use: Appr opr iate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use, regardless of the user’s body size, posture, or mobility What is the relationship between Universal Design and legally mandated accessibility such as the ADA? Legally mandated requirements for accessible design provide a vital basis for autonomy and equal opportunity for people with disabilities. To be effective, legal mandates require an infrastructure of information and enforcement in order to ensure meaningful compliance. The legal mandates establish a set of MINIMUM standards for SOME built, information, and communication environments, and they address the needs of people with SOME types of functional limitations, particularly people in wheelchairs and blind people.In contrast, Universal Design principles are aimed at MAXIMUM accessibility in ALL environments for ALL people. Accessibility laws and state codes are a limited indicator of the potential of design to facilitate independence, participation, and wellbeing for a growing proportion of people. In a world in which we live 30 years longer than people did 100 years ago and survive illness and injury at record rates, most of us will experience at least periods of functional limitation in the course of our lives. It is not about “special” any more. Universal or inclusive or human -centered design starts with accessible design and calls for a more creative and imaginative education and engagement of designers to design places, products, and technology that will work seamlessly for the widest possible group of potential users. To succeed, we must reframe an agenda for inclusion and embed this vision of universal design into public policy at every level.
Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americans, Inc. • 94 Cleveland Street • North Providence, RI • 02904-3525 • 401-480-8381 riarajap@hotmail.com • http://www.facebook.com/groups/354516807278/