About Universal Design - Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (2024)

FAQs

What is universal design Centre for Excellence in universal design? ›

The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) is dedicated to enabling the design of environments that can be accessed, understood and used regardless of a person's age, size, ability or disability.

Universal design is the process of creating products that are accessible to people with a wide range of abilities, disabilities, and other characteristics.

The seven principles of universal design are: Equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use.

Universal design means planning to build physical, learning and work environments so that they are usable by a wide range of people, regardless of age, size or disability status. While universal design promotes access for individuals with disabilities, it also benefits others.

Universal design for learning (UDL) is a teaching approach that works to accommodate the needs and abilities of all learners and eliminates unnecessary hurdles in the learning process.

Universal Design creates inclusive design solutions and promotes accessibility and usability, allowing people with all levels of ability to live independently.

The goal of Universal Design is to maximize usability by individuals with a wide variety of characteristics. Whether we are talking about learning strategies or physical space, Universal Design operates by a set of principles designed to maximize access by everyone.

Examples of universal design features are step-free entries, curb ramps, levers, wide doorways and handheld adjustable showerheads.

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, ability or disability.

Who should use universal design? ›

Understanding UDL

These design elements help people with disabilities. But people who don't have disabilities may also want to use them. For example, closed captioning on TVs allows people with hearing impairments to see onscreen text of what is being said.

Inclusive Design, Barrier-Free Design, Design for All

These are other terms that essentially have the same meaning as universal design.

What is Universal Design and Who Benefits? Universal Design (UD) is the process of designing an environment so that it can be accessed, understood, and used by all people regardless of their age, size, ability, or disability.

Universal design is defined by the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University as "the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design" (www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/newweb/about_ud/aboutud.htm).

A design center of excellence (CoE) is a hub or team repository of the expertise and best practices identified by DesignOps processes. It centralizes and standardizes design practices across the organization to enhance quality and coherence.

The design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

UD and UDL support access to early care and education environments through the removal of physical and structural barriers (UD) and the provision of multiple and varied formats for instruction and learning (UDL).