The talk mainly discussed the reasons why accessibility and inclusivity should be our highest priority. Design and technology are life changing tools however as Ruki Ravikumar ver correctly said “without the mind, design is blind”.
The four speakers that followed her spoke about designing accessible cities and consequently planning for the future. First Keira Gwynn working with R 82 a Denmark based company advocates mainly for children with disabilities. She begins by defining disability and emphasising that rather than concealing or camouflaging the design it should emit confidence. For example, spectacles today act as an accessory instead of portraying weakness in vision. Thus deisgners and engineers can collaborate to help the user emotionally and not only physically. Keira worked on a sitting aid called the ‘Scallop’ that is enjoyed not only by the target group but others too. It can be used by teenagers during music festivals or by toddlers to while eating a meal. She firmly believes that all people should be kept in mind and people should be in the forefront of design. In this way we will be considering our own future.
Second on the podium, Kat Holmes, founder of KATA desires to create solutions that are adapted and personal. Previously a director at Microsoft, she feels that society was unaware about the concept of disability at first. Since exclusion is designed therefore design can also be the remedy for it. Changing our assumptions about people is the first step to inclusion. Kat urges us to think of diversity as – Who is most discluded? Who wants to participate but a mismatched design prevents them from doing so? She further goes on to say how we should challenge the myth of a normal human being. Answering these questions according to her will solve the problem of exclusion and lead to accessible design.
Third, Elise Roy- a design strategist analyses products and services on a daily. She feels “different is the new normal”. She says that looking to average doesn’t not produce cutting edge innovation. Personally, being deaf she faced multiple challenges faced while working with metal and wood. She claims that designing for extreme works since that means we would be designing for all the super powers we want.
Lastly Dr Patty Moore, president of Moore Design Associates is one of the 100 most important women of America. She starts by saying that design should address humbly and equally the needs of all people. She herself first thought that the handicapped are broken however later realised that the tools they have are inadequate. She urges us to design the dignity of design since currently the indignity of design is prevalent everywhere. The part of her talk that stood out to me the most was when she said that it is the potential of design to embrace all people as equal and if we take choice away from consumers we have failed them by design.
Examples from my surroundings that need design intervention include increased number of places specially elevators and restaurant menus to have an addition of Braille for the blind. Transformation of taxis to be able to accommodate wheelchairs is essential for a city like New York with such a diverse set of people. All buses should have ramps that come out so that a wheelchair can climb on it. Increasing the amount of subway stations with elevators is pivotal too. Besides the renovation of these spaces, religious places of worship such as churches should have a entrance besides a flight of stairs to enter that is accessible for all.
