What is Universal Design?
Universal design is design that is usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.-Ron Mace
The simplest possible definition of universal design is design that is meant to be universally useful. It's a concept that applies to all kinds of design, from product design to web design to civil engineering. The goal of this site is to discuss universal design as it applies to web design, but before we get to the how or the why, let's take a look at the history of universal design and some useful concepts.
The Origin of Universal Design
Working off of existing initiatives for accessibility in architecture and building design, the researcher Ronald Mace and his team at North Carolina State University developed the concept of universal design: design done with the fundamental intention of being accessible and useful for as many people as possible (more info: Universal Design Institute). The original concept has since been applied to many other forms of design, especially web design.
The driving force behind modern standards for web design is the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C. The job of the W3C is to create and maintain the standards on which the Internet is built, including fundamental technologies like HTML and CSS. Their goal is to ensure that the web works for everyone, everywhere, and as part of doing so they've led initiatives for web accessibility and worked to create guidelines that encourage accessible and universal web design.
Fundamental Concepts
The 7 Principles of Universal Design (as defined by Ron Mace and his team) act as foundational guidelines for any universal design, on the Internet or otherwise. Note that these principles are fairly abstract and might not necessarily apply to all projects; they're meant as considerations you should make when designing, not concrete instructions on how to design.
- Equitable Use: The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.
- Flexibility in Use: The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.
- Simple and 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 ambient conditions or 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 and with a minimum of fatigue.
- Size and Space for Approach and Use: Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of user's body size, posture, or mobility.
Summary
Universal design is an intentional approach to design with accessibility as a fundamental goal. Founded in research on housing design and later extended to apply to the web and web standards, universal design is a concept that can be used to create web pages that are functional, legible, accessible, and robust.