When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone.
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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".
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@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
@raphaelmorgan @shininghero same here the ones I saw were not created for accessibility but more like "this road is dangerous we needs cars to slow down so let's raise some speed bumps that will also act as crosswalk areas for pedestrians".
Still, they do the job -
@koneko @stephaniewalter in some countries there is a 3th version with pedestrians and bikes separated.
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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.
They are great if placed properly.
Both routes from my home to the town centre include a stretch of narrow pavement with a steep dropped kerb (curb cut in American?).
There is no level section on one, on the other it's about 15cm wide.
No safe way to drive across it, or to turn onto it to cross the road.
They could have put the crossings at wider stretch of pavement.There is one alternative, driving a longer route that includes pavements in a light industrial area with very steep kerbs, no dropped kerbs, and vans or lorries parked everywhere. I'd have to drive my 4mph chair in the middle of the road.
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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 Here in Berlin, the local trash pickup service puts ramps onto streets so they can roll the trash containers easily downstairs, and they put signs onto those saying they're primarily for trash but should of course also be used by wheelchair users and strollers, and I find that beautiful.
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@stephaniewalter I love that I now know the NAME for this, and can explain how accessibility infrastructure isn't wasted.
@Skulldog@socel.net @stephaniewalter@front-end.social accessibility infrastructure is not wasted, not because of the benefit it provides to anyone else, but because it makes things accessible for people who need it. -
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 Or the existence of text messages. When mobile phones (cell phones) were first coming into use in the late 80s and early 90s, they were intended for voice calls only. The Deaf community advocate hard for adding text messages to the standards by default. The companies weren't keen, but eventually it was done. And I think we can agree that text messaging turned out to be kind of important to the vast majority of people!
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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 @stephaniewalter Who knew viking warriors has such heavy accents!
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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 @stephaniewalter the Museum of Science Boston did some really cool work on universal design, but I can't find much about it now.
