Have you ever listened to an audiobook? Dictated a note into your smartphone? Ridden an elevator because your luggage was just too awkward for the escalator? If so, you’ve been the beneficiary of “universal design”. Also known as design for all, inclusive design and barrier free design, this means that a product, service or technology is designed for everyone, no matter their ability or disability.

The idea of universal design was originally developed by architects and designers in the mid-20^th century. In the 1990’s, this concept evolved into Seven Principles of Universal Design. These principles emphasize usability by everyone, design that is simple and intuitive, tolerant of errors in use, and physically easy to employ. Today, universal design has expanded to include technology, education and the workplace. This means cognitive, sensory, and social accessibility as well as physical accessibility. To design for persons with visual impairments, auditory and tactile alternatives must be made easily available, intuitive to use, and easy to learn.

In this always-connected age, perhaps the first example to consider is the smartphone. These devices, along with tablets, laptops, and PC’s, are typically built with embedded                        screen readers and voice control capabilities. These not only aid the blind but can be used by anyone who needs to use their device without looking at it. Options to increase magnification, change font size and contrast also help persons with low vision, and these features can ease the eyestrain for anybody in front of a screen for long hours. . Thus, a single model of smartphone or computer can serve anyone, though it may be used differently by a fully sighted person than someone who is visually impaired.

Another common example of design for all is the curb ramp. Originally developed to allow persons in wheelchairs to move from street to sidewalk, these ramps also provide tactile feedback to those using a white cane or a guide dog that they are entering or exiting a roadway. Properly positioned, they also direct a person who is totally blind to the location of the crosswalk at a signaled intersection. And for the general public, they make it easy to push a stroller or pull a cart or suitcase up onto the sidewalk.

Audible crosswalk signals can aid all pedestrians to cross busy intersections safely. The angle of the sun or inclement weather conditions can make it difficult to perceive the walk signal even for sighted persons. And while the blind are taught to key on traffic movement and sound to decide when it is safe to cross, and audible signal creates the greatest certainty for the blind traveler. Unfortunately, there are few audible crosswalk signals in Missoula, and they are often not loud enough to be heard over the traffic noise.

A final example which all of us have encountered is public restroom signage. None of us want to end up in the wrong restroom, and the tactile letters and raised symbols can keep everyone going in the right door. The visually impaired can use the outlines of the words or the Braille letters, but the raised images can also benefit anyone in low light conditions such as a dark hallway.

These are but a few examples of universal design that we come across on a daily basis, often without realizing it. But such design elements need to be consciously incorporated into anything we create to serve the public. While Missoulians themselves are mostly helpful and welcoming, we still have a ways to go to become a truly inclusive community.

You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future.

To contact the Missoula chapter of the NFB, email us at missoulachapter@nfbmt.org .