Architectural design has entailed barriers that in turn created disability.
Wherever people with disabilities have lived, they and others have created adaptive solutions to everyday activities. In the mid-20th century, institutions and local governments began adapting public spaces through altering the impassable height of curbs (curbcuts) and other ergonomic features. Urban landscapes were altered as disability activists successfully lobbied for federal legislation to make public buildings, transportation, and education accessible.
When the ADA was written in 1990, no one foresaw the significance of the worldwide web or thought of information technology as architecture. Access to the internet through the building of “electronic curb cuts,” under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, has been the focus of inclusion work over the last twenty years.
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Ron Mace was one of the first to visualize appropriate ramps and handrails. This drawing shows how to position architectural features for wheelchair navigation.
This marked-up photograph of a parking lot and building entrance shows how architects advised clients on creating accessible areas.
Ron Mace marked on this photograph to show how to position a wall-mounted public telephone.
This is a concrete chunk of street corner from a do-it-yourself curb cut. A group of activists took hammers to the corner because the city had discontinued its curb-reduction program and people trying to get up impassable curbs frequently had been hit by cars. The activists were from the Atlantis Community, an independent living center, and the protest launched the disability rights group ADAPT.
The Center for Universal Design produced this poster that describes seven principles for creating spaces and products that accommodate a wide range of peoples’ capacities.
Conveying information through multiple senses, such as this subway platform with changes in color and surface texture at its edge, create an accommodating environment.