As a person with an interior design degree I can tell you that universal design was a hot topic, even twenty years ago. During university there was good deal of discussion on accessible design. Unfortunately, in the real world where architectural firms worked with tight budgets, creating accessible spaces was focused in only a few areas-washrooms in public/commercial settings and health care of course. Sometimes door knows that were levers were considered, as they are easier to grasp and pull down on that trying to turn a smooth round doorknob if ones hands had little power to grasp the know.
Of course hallways were always designed with a minimum width and the turning area required for a wheelchair to turn within a small space such as a washroom was a regular part of any design.
It would be great if these were the only issues to be considered when designing an accessible space however, the details are nearly infinite.
Here is a video in which interior designer's created a suit that made joints stiff, hands were in bulking gloves, weights were put into pockets all in order to simulate the body of a 70 year. While I take some issue with the fact that disability or physical challenges are something for an older segment of society, I am happy to see a suit like this being used to create some degree of understanding to some of the day to day challenges that the most people would never even have to consider.
While examples like this do not always work in the long run (usually the experience is too short to appreciate that while the disability suit will eventually be taken off, the realities of disability are far different than than. However, the suits are still a worthwhile place to start.
What I would really like to see is for people to wear the suits for, perhaps a week or more- long enough to recognize that while wearing a disability suit for half an hour or even a day could help bring some understanding to the issues of dealing with a disability, but that in order to effectively connect the designer to disability, longer term wear could be considered- in order to realize the fatigue comes with an uncooperative body, the pain that develops from trying to do tasks that our bodies often struggle to manage. After a week I would hope that people may come away with an incredible new appreciation for thoughtful design. A person without a physical disability might begin to appreciate every cut-curb, every elevator, every parking space that is right in front of the entrance to a building, and every handicap washroom where the toilet is a little bit higher up, so that it is easier to get off of as opposed to the rest of the toilets in the other cubicles.
So, here is the video which aims to show through physical experience, how interior designers and hopefully architects as well, the reason why accessibility is a complex issue that amounts to far more than building a wheelchair ramp.
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