When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone.
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When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.
@stephaniewalter IT HAS A NAME!!! O_O
Now I know, thank you! ^_^
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When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.
@stephaniewalter Yea, right. Now 3 cars can park there. /s
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@stephaniewalter better would be for the cross walk to be at sidewalk level, turning it into a speed bump for cross traffic.
Definitely, especially in uk, where delivery drivers have a habit of driving up one lowered section, along the footpath and down the next. They expect pedestrians to move out of their way.
It is a habit, they do this even on wider roads.
Cars parked on the footpath are another menace, just as much a habit, growing ever since the invention of radial tyres that absorb the sharp kerbs.
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When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.
@stephaniewalter@front-end.social alt text does this on fedi
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A more modern example would be captions in videos: they are a feature designed for deaf and hard of hearing people, but also benefits people with ADHD and auditory processing disorder, people who want to listen to a video without sound for various reasons, etc.
Illustration by Sketchplanations: https://sketchplanations.com/the-curb-cut-effect
@stephaniewalter Heck, subtitles even help me, a lover of potato chips! Having subtitles on whilst snacking makes it easier to parse what people are saying. Accessibility is indeed an asset for everyone.
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When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.
@stephaniewalter I discovered this when I was father for the first time, and I was mapping in OSM. All the wheelchair improvements help parents, child, elderly and families.
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When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.
@stephaniewalter I love that I now know the NAME for this, and can explain how accessibility infrastructure isn't wasted.
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@stephaniewalter Another method I've read about is to raise the entire crossing section to sidewalk height. This is commonly done in the Netherlands as a traffic calming measure, as it acts as a speedbump too.
Sadly I don't think we'll ever see that in the states.@shininghero @stephaniewalter I have actually seen that in California! Only one, and it seemed the idea was less "generally raise the crosswalk to the curb" and more "this street is pretty steep, and if someone tried to roll across it on a normal crosswalk they'd probably just roll down the street"... But there was, in effect, a raised crosswalk that both kept the path straighter for pedestrians and acted as a speed bump for cars
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@stephaniewalter @FreakyFwoof I love that analogy, but I think it has its problems. Namely that people without disabilities have options even when the curb cut is non-existent. Humans tend to act and take things seriously when they are out of options. Of course, I realize this is quite a generalization, but I am not sure I can do better on social media!
@vick21 @stephaniewalter @FreakyFwoof I think that split is too blurry to be considered a problem in the analogy
On a wheelchair day, I usually have other options if there's no ramp--often I'm able to stand and take a couple steps, and often I have another person with me to help me get over a step with the wheels. A more skilled manual wheelchair user could pop a wheelie.
An abled parent pushing a large stroller with heavy kids and stuff in it doesn't always have the option to pick it up. -
@mikemccaffrey @stephaniewalter my guess is, anyone who would avoid making things better for one group because it would reveal how they've been failing other groups, wouldn't be making things better for the one group in the first place
if "abled customers might realize we haven't been filling their needs" was enough to deter them from filling my needs, so was "we'd have to do something" -
When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.
@stephaniewalter This. A sibling worked in design and tried hard to correct old sloping footpaths that veered heavily towards the road, trying to maintain a max 2degree slope. Hobart is quite hilly, so it's not always possible on every street, but at least they tried.
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When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.
@stephaniewalter i love this illustration.
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A more modern example would be captions in videos: they are a feature designed for deaf and hard of hearing people, but also benefits people with ADHD and auditory processing disorder, people who want to listen to a video without sound for various reasons, etc.
Illustration by Sketchplanations: https://sketchplanations.com/the-curb-cut-effect
@stephaniewalter Of you would like more examples then Microsoft has an introduction to inclusive design which has a bunch along those lines which I like.
https://inclusive.microsoft.design/tools-and-activities/Inclusive101Guidebook.pdf
This diagram is taken from there.
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When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.
@stephaniewalter@front-end.social ...while in China sometimes additional obstacles are deliberately placed on the slopes, to stop delivery vehicles going to the curb. Unfortunately, it make things worse for everyone.
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When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.
@stephaniewalter Beautiful!
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When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.
@stephaniewalter@front-end.social raising that part of the road would be even better -
@stephaniewalter@front-end.social ...while in China sometimes additional obstacles are deliberately placed on the slopes, to stop delivery vehicles going to the curb. Unfortunately, it make things worse for everyone.
@oldherl this is next level evil
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@stephaniewalter Of you would like more examples then Microsoft has an introduction to inclusive design which has a bunch along those lines which I like.
https://inclusive.microsoft.design/tools-and-activities/Inclusive101Guidebook.pdf
This diagram is taken from there.
@coreworlder yeah, I know
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@koneko interesting solution indeed. I guess this would have been harder to put in place in the 70s when the term was created, since those were created by activists, who were illegally destroying the pavement to make it more accessible. But yeah, it's a good example of "if we think accessibility upfront we can do amazing things for everyone, if we retrofit we kind of do the minimum viable thing".
